Re: Putting pot in its place, 3/20/99

To the Editors, Oregonian newspaper:

Dear Editors,

While 'Putting pot in its place' you continue to dance around any
rational justification for government waging its deadly drug war
against us adults who choose to use marijuana, or some other
"controlled" substance without government approval, ('Putting pot in
its place,' 3/20/99).

As a competent adult I don't think it's any of your, or my
government's business what I eat, drink or smoke, it's certainly not
newsworthy. But for government to regulate personal appetites to this
degree is an insult to adults, a threat to liberty, a radical
departure from rational policy and an invitation to corruption. We
have institutionalized madness, along with nearly 1 million
non-violent, low-level drug offenders, POWs. Government is as
addicted to drug war as junkies are to heroin, perhaps even more.

Let's be honest, none of this is really about "good medicine" or
medical marijuana, it's much more about an antiquated Prohibition
mind-set. A mind-set that's threatened with any minor deviation, like
medical marijuana, and growing public support for even more meaningful
reform.

Floyd F. Landrath