WASTED RESOURCE

IT grieves me greatly to hear of the destruction of vast numbers of
marijuana plants by drug enforcement agencies (Page 1B, Sept. 14)
instead of using this resource to save trees by using hemp to make
paper, clothing and other items.

As someone over 40 who neither drinks alcohol nor smokes marijuana
(and who never has), I don't understand why one drug is legal and the
other is not.

Taxpayers are financing a huge prison industry, the majority of
inmates having committed non-violent crimes. I see no indication that
the war on marijuana has made my life safer and am well aware that it
has caused tremendous damage to many families, including those
suffering from illnesses whose pain is alleviated by smoking marijuana.

Nanlouise Wolfe
Santa Cruz