MARIJUANA IS NOT DEVIANT

Dear Editor:

Its time to put to rest the myth that marijuana smoking is a fringe or
deviant activity engaged in by those on the margins of society.

In reality, marijuana smoking is extremely common, and marijuana is the
recreational drug of choice for millions of hard working and middle-class
Americans.

Marijuana smokers in this country are no different from their non-using
peers, except for their use of marijuana. Like most Americans, they are
responsible citizens who work hard, raise families, contribute to their
communities and want a safe, crime-free neighborhood in which to live.

Otherwise law-abiding citizens who smoke marijuana are not part of the
crime problem, and we must stop treating them like criminals.

Arresting and jailing marijuana smokers serves no legitimate purpose, and
it has a terrible destructive impact on the lives, careers and families of
the more than 500,000 marijuana smokers arrested each year in this country.

. I am urging our elected officials to support a change in federal criminal
law that would focus law-enforcement efforts against violent criminals, and
end the practice of arresting and jailing otherwise law-abiding marijuana
smokers.

I ask them to please reform the marijuana laws and stop arresting marijuana
smokers.

Carol Colburn
451 Lake Estates Drive
Meadow Vista, CA 95722
530-878-1831