OVER THE TOP

Writing on the issue of legalizing marijuana, letter writer Lyndon
Lafferty (March 6) relies heavily on exaggeration ("thousands
literally lost their minds and lives by experimenting with LSD"),
fear-mongering ("Charles Manson and his blood-thirsty group were
constant users of marijuana"), and an us-vs-them mentality ("our laws
are designed to protect people like us from people like you").

One of the many problems with his over-the-top approach is that when
the young minds reading his letter recognize his exaggerations, they
will discount his entire position and see pot as something cool to
do.

A second problem is that of personal accountability: Both liberals
and conservatives refuse to hold people accountable for their
actions, and each group wants to prohibit something to solve a social
problem.

Liberals think: Guns kill people, let's ban guns.

Conservatives think: Drugs ruin lives, let's ban drugs.

Doctors think: Tobacco kills millions, let's ban tobacco.

Few will admit what the research shows: That prohibitions will cause
more harm to society than the harm being caused by what was
prohibited. Neither side accepts that prohibition creates black
markets, smuggling, widespread lawbreaking, overflowing prisons, and
provides a dangerous, illegal and highly paid job for the underclass.

I would like to see our society shift away from prohibitions and
toward support of health. Let us keep our police, courts and prisons
reserved for those who harm others. Let us shift our resources to our
roadways and waterworks, public safety, health care and education.
It is more difficult work (and less glamorous) than passing
prohibitive laws with mandatory sentences. It is not as much
self-righteous fun as shouting down the voices that disagree.
Citizens, what has been tried is clogging our courts, jails and
prisons, squandered billions of dollars and shown only to raise the
price of drugs high enough to corrupt anyone and to topple
governments.

Let us get out of the business of prohibition, even if drug cartels
collapse.

Thom McCombs

American Canyon