POT SMOKE SCREEN

Re: Sheriff Bob Brooks' March 14 column, "Marijuana legalization":
Sheriff Brooks paints a picture of how harmful marijuana is to your
health. Well, I won't argue with some of that, but compared to other
drugs, marijuana is a far safer drug. I have never heard of anyone
overdosing on pot, yet with all other drugs it is possible to do so
with deadly results.

Millions and millions of people all over the world enjoy smoking pot
and you are not going to stop that, ever.

Keeping pot illegal to keep people from smoking it is a joke. Keeping
it illegal keeps the price of the weed sky high, which is exactly what
the drug lords and drug dealers want.

Legalize it, and the price will drop drastically, and crime rates
connected to the drug trade will also drop.

It is well known that there definitely are medical benefits from pot
for some people who are dying from cancer and other diseases. Brooks
says that legalizing pot will encourage much greater use of the drug.
I don't buy that argument. That didn't happen in the Netherlands when
they legalized it.

Roger Edgerton, Ventura