DEBATE RAGES ON LEGALIZATION OF POT

I've got 74 growth rings on my personal tree stump and can remember
pretty far back, even today. At one time, Texas had legal horse
racing at Arlington Downs, when that city wasn't much more than open pastures.

But I can't recall if there was any legal betting at that time, or
how Texas lost the race track that W.T. Waggoner was so involved with
in the 1930s.

But I do know that New Mexico, Oklahoma and even Louisiana had race
tracks and betting. They still do.

Residents of the Lone Star State cried and cried about, "all that
Texas money" being spent on training stables, feed bills and betting
across the borders in these other states. Residents finally had the
legislature approve racing and a form of betting, but it wasn't successful.

Even in New Mexico it takes casinos to hold the crowds in that home
of the All American Quarter Horse Futurity.

Congressmen in the nation's capitol are still searching for
"something new" to bring in huge chunks of revenue.

Guess what it is? Making the sale of marijuana legal in the United
States, but carrying a hefty sales tax.

Lobbyists and some congressmen are saying that marijuana taxes might
be the cure for the U.S. budget.

Oh, my goodness. A 2004 report by the drug policy office said drugs
cost Americans more than $180 billion related to health care, lost
productivity and crime in 2002. That study lumped the effects of
marijuana in with more dangerous drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

But marijuana advocates say history is on their side. They muster
arguments similar to those that led to repealing Prohibition during
the Great Depression.

One spokesperson, Jeff Miron, a Harvard economist, is quoted as
saying, "In the early 1930s, one of the reasons alcohol was brought
back was because government revenue was plummeting. There are some
parallels to that now," he explained.

Daniel Stein, who operates two stores in his home state of
California, sells marijuana for health use. He claims he generates $1
million in revenue in California and pays his state $80,000 in sales tax.

But the federal government, which does not acknowledge his sales as
legitimate commerce, gets nothing from his businesses.

The Office of Drug Control Policy says that weed is the most popular
illegal drug in the U.S.

These arguments ignore the issue of the connection of marijuana and
criminal activity. The district attorney in Berkshire County,
Massachusetts, simply said, "It sends the wrong message to kids about
substance abuse in general. This is a wrong message, saying it's not
a big deal."

What do you readers think: A balanced budget or opening up the flood
gates to wider use of the weed Cannabis?