MEXICAN KILLINGS: LEGALIZE DRUGS

In Thursday's Voice of the People ["Drug Users, Cartel Killings"],
Lakeland resident Frances Clark wrote, "Innocent people are dying by
the thousands in Mexico because of the drug cartels, and we must ask
why."

The why is money. Illegal drugs make money for gangs and cartels
because they are illegal. Marijuana (hemp) represents 60 percent of
the money earned by Mexican drug cartels. Members of said cartels are
already upset by California's legalization of marijuana for medical
purposes because it is cutting into their profits.

States should "think about the innocent people who are dying each day
by these murderers in order to get their 'product' across our
borders," Clark wrote. That is because the drug cartels have no
incentive to smuggle legal drugs.

Alcohol prohibition created the economic base for Al Capone and his
like to control citizens, politicians and police. The war on drugs has
created the same environment.

It's past time to end the War on Drugs. In our economic climate, it's
time to legalize and tax them.

GLENN FESTOG

Lakeland