LAWS UNFAIRLY TREAT KIDS AS CRIMINALS

Friday, October 31 "Penalties against drug use should not be more
damaging than the use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this more clear
than the laws against the possession of marijuana in private personal
use." - Jimmy Carter.

For our family, this is personal. We can assure the editorial staff of
the Eagle that our marijuana laws can ruin lives. It is a shame that
you did not do some research before writing today's
endorsement.

Not only has our 18-year-old son's life been turned upside down
because he was identified by our police force as someone who smokes
marijuana, but our whole family has been adversely affected by their
attention to him. In a short period of time our son was arrested three
times. He was handcuffed, thrown in the police car, chained to the
bench in a cell and $500 bail was demanded for his release.

In high school, he was a high honors student. Now he faces possible
jail time, a criminal record and loss of his driver's license for
years to come.

It is true that judges rarely send those who break our marijuana laws
to jail as this would be inappropriate and would not serve the public
good.

However, that is what our current Draconian laws allow. Unfair laws
should not persist simply because they are rarely applied in full
force. Unfair laws should be changed so they cannot be applied
unfairly and with prejudice.

It is a shame that our Legislature has not addressed this issue and
that it has been left to a grass roots effort to petition for the
passage of more reasonable marijuana laws. However, Question 2 is not
legalization and therefore does not send a message that drug use is
condoned. It simply brings the punishment in line with the crime.
Question 2 was modeled on the laws of 11 other states such as New
York, North Carolina, Maine and Mississippi. Studies have shown no
discernible increase in marijuana use due to the passage of these
reasonable laws.

Many respectable adults have smoked marijuana. They, however, will not
be caught. Statistically, it is our stupid kids who are caught perhaps
with a few stems, a broken piece of a pipe with residue or a plastic
bag containing a few leaves as was the case with our son. Perhaps law
enforcement thinks they are saving him from a "gateway" drug or
society from one more degenerate youth. But our son has not hurt anyone.

Nobody has ever left a bar high on pot and driven home at 90 miles an
hour to beat his wife and kids. Alcohol is far more addictive and
dangerous than pot, but it is legal, because most of us know how to
use it in moderation. Young people who use marijuana may need help,
but should we treat them as dangerous criminals?

Andrea Winter

Daniel Mintz

Lenox