JUST MAKE POT LESS ILLEGAL

I propose that marijuana not be "legalized." Instead, I favor making
it slightly less illegal in a specific way.

Currently, marijuana is listed as a Schedule I controlled substance
pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 11054. Included in that
designation are heroin, morphine and cocaine base. California law
mirrors the federal law.

California should remove marijuana from its Schedule I
classification, and designate it as a regulated -- not as a
controlled substance. Growing and selling marijuana could then be
downgraded to misdemeanor crimes.

What would quickly happen is that the open market would dictate the
price of marijuana. It would probably stabilize at around $400 to
$500 a pound, instead of the current tenfold price. At those levels,
you can bet the Mexican cartels would abandon their plantations on
public lands, and concentrate their efforts elsewhere. Likewise, it
is difficult to imagine why someone would kick in a door for $500
worth of pot, when they could steal any car on the street instead.
Anybody dumb enough to do such a home invasion, and risk getting shot
for cheap pot, should probably be removed from the gene pool anyway.

I realize that this scheme would hurt drug dealers, police
drug-enforcement funds, and international banks. Sorry about that.

- -- Dale Rasmussen, Chico