REGULATE, REGULATE, REGULATE

Re "Altered state" by Nick Miller (SN&R Feature, August
27):

SN&R should be commended for reporting on the many benefits that
marijuana legalization would bring to California.

But you fumbled when you said that "such figures as the late Milton
Friedman supported the deregulation of marijuana." In fact, just the
opposite is true.

Friedman and others (like myself) who are in favor of legalization are
pro-regulation. The failed policy of prohibition is the complete
opposite of regulation. Just ask any high-school student which is
easier to get: illegal marijuana or regulated alcohol. They'll tell
you that drug dealers never ask for ID.

Legalization is about putting drug cartels out of business, generating
billions in tax revenue and spending those taxes on education instead
of incarceration. It's not deregulation, it's pro-regulation.

Micah Daigle

executive director

Students for Sensible Drug Policy