MARIJUANA DEBATE SHOULD PROCEED

I hope Mayor John Cook realizes that the debate for marijuana
legalization needs to happen.

After vetoing a unanimously approved resolution calling for such a
debate last year, Cook and the rest of America have watched Mexico's
drug war death toll exceed 22,000 people.

Despite increasing troops and escalating a war on drugs, there has
been no decrease in drug use, availability or flow over the border.
There has only been more bloodshed.

Like Mayor Cook, I don't want young people using marijuana. But I
understand that keeping it illegal doesn't stop teenagers from having
easy access to it.

We need to focus on controlling marijuana in order to prevent tragic
murders like the UTEP students killed recently in Juarez.

The demand for marijuana in the U.S. is not going away. Ever. It is
prohibition that is causing the violence across our border.

If marijuana is produced, taxed and sold in the U.S. to people over
21, these cartels will lose their largest market.

Jonathan Perri, associate director

Students for Sensible Drug Policy