TIME TO RETHINK MARIJUANA LAWS

Last week there was a very brief article on the extradition and
arrest of Canadian citizen Marc Emery for the charge that he sold
millions of cannabis seeds to U.S. customers.

I must admit that I was more than disappointed that the Saint Louis
Post gave this so little coverage.

It is outrageous to threaten a non US citizen with prison time merely
for the crime of selling of marijuana seeds when there are so many
other offenses that our limited resources could be used to pursue,
especially when so many States have decriminalized and legalized the
medical use of cannabis.

Throughout the United States, and even within Missouri, we as a
nation are reevaluating how we think about cannabis.

In Columbia, MO marijuana has been decriminalized, and just last week
Mayor Francis Slay finished conducting a mini-poll to gage the public
opinion of the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana. Check
out the results, they are overwhelmingly in favor of legalization.
The point is that there is currently a very lively public debate
dealing with the issues concerning marijuana, and it deserves more
coverage. The extradition of Marc Emery is an outrage, and to use him
as a scapegoat, by attempting to sentence him in US court for a
"crime" that we as Americans are reevaluating ourselves, is worse
than immoral. it is downright hypocrisy.

Jody Wynen

St. Louis