TAX MARIJUANA INSTEAD OF CIGARETTES

I'm writing about a letter to the editor "Cigarettes already have high
taxes" published April 7.

Instead of increasing the existing tobacco taxes, why not tax a
product that is now completely untaxed? Why not tax marijuana?

Instead of attempting to nullify the immutable law of supply and
demand, our government should regulate, control and tax it. We could
easily tax marijuana at about 90 percent of its retail price.

The vast majority of marijuana's current price is the result of the
prohibition tax which is now going to criminals.

It seems to me that nonmarijuana users would be in favor of taxing a
product they don't use. Around here, taxing somebody else's vice is
very popular.

Of course, many will proclaim that regulating, controlling and taxing
the sale of marijuana will send the wrong message to our children. But
what message are we now sending to our children by regulating,
controlling and taxing the sale of tobacco products?

The annual tobacco-versus-marijuana kill ratio is greater than 400,000
to zero.

KIRK MUSE

Mesa, Ariz.