POT LAWS HAVE KEPT THE PRICE HIGHER

I think the Rand report (Page 1B, July 8) about legalizing marijuana
misses some important points. Rather than reporting legalization
dramatically lowering the price of pot, we could more accurately say
that making pot illegal has artificially raised the price of pot.

This is the very reason why it's such a profitable venture for
Mexican drug lords to hire people to plant marijuana in state parks
and private lands here in California. The cost to the environment of
these illegal gardens is considerable, since proper usage of
fertilizers and pesticides is not worried about. Runoff into streams
isn't their concern.

Legalizing pot will once again put California in the forefront of
social change and demonstrate to the federal government that the
so-called war on drugs is ineffective and ill-conceived. So there is
much more to this issue than just tax revenues.

Keith Baker

Mount Hamilton