MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION WOULD CURE MANY ILLS

Medical marijuana was approved by California voters years
ago.

Comparing marijuana with alcohol shows that both cause impairment with
excessive use. Both can be taxed, both can be thought to reduce
physical and mental pain. Both cause some deterioration to the body.

Alcohol causes many people to get angry, morose and violent enough to
kill. Prohibition didn't stop the making, sale, distribution or
drinking of alcohol. The government received no taxes, while gangs got
rich.

Marijuana makes people's eyes red, and it makes them laugh and feel
happy.

More than 80 percent of inmates are in jail because of problems with
both marijuana and alcohol. If marijuana were legalized, many inmates
could be released from jails and given medical assistance to cure any
addiction, which would reduce overcrowding in jails, save the money
that otherwise would be used to build new ones, drastically reduce the
price of the drug and cause the South American drug cartels financial
problems.

The number of police in Mexico and on the U.S. border could then be
reduced without reducing safety. Drug enforcement police here could be
used for better things. The U.S. government could even set up its own
marijuana farms, controlling sales and distribution.

Leslie T. Foster

Stockton