REFRAIN FROM SENSELESS RHETORIC

The Columbian's bias has become painfully clear to me over the years.
However, I believe the editorializing in the June 12 "Cheers & Jeers"
relating to Initiative 1068 are over the top with "we wonder whether
people would see it as a justification to abuse intoxicants." I can't
decide if that sentence is a red herring or just plain
nonsensical.

You mention a poll that suggests voters would approve of cannabis
legalization. Yet you still publish negative prose. Obviously, the
will of Washingtonians is meaningless to The Columbian; bias indeed.

You use the same old worn-out argument that cannabis is a Schedule I
drug and state legalization would create a problem for local law
enforcement. That's nonsense. It would free law enforcement to go
after the real bad guys. It would make room in the court system to
take the same to trial.

Also, it is the responsibility of the states to protest in the face of
unjust federal law. Cannabis' illegality is unjust, plain and simple.
There's no justification for it -- none.

I respect The Columbian's right to voice its puritanical views. I
would suggest, though, that if you care to maintain any credibility
with your readers you dial back your nonsensical rhetoric.

Jim Kennedy

Vancouver