I WILL HOLD MY NOSE AND VOTE FOR PASSAGE OF 203

I admit to being one of the undecided when it comes to Arizona
Proposition 203.

It seems counterproductive to me, as long as marijuana is considered
to be an illegal drug, to introduce additional supplies of it into the
marketplace.

I have no doubt that there are many people suffering from various
conditions who would benefit from the therapeutic values of marijuana,
but the way the law is written it just seems like just an invitation
for more illegal activity.

Albert Einstein once uttered a statement that gets used so much that
it has almost become a cultural cliche, but it is just as true today
as ever.

He said that "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over
and over again and expecting different results." I guess we're still
suffering from insanity, as we didn't seem to learn much from the
great alcohol prohibition era of the 1920s and 1930s.

Prohibition did more damage to American society than just about any
other harebrained idea we've come up with before or since. It was an
invitation for organized crime to take over what has since become a
culturally acceptable industry.

The law was all but unenforceable, and cost society a fortune not only
for enforcement, but also in lost tax revenue. Did it stop the
production and consumption of alcohol? No way. No more than our
current drug laws have stopped the consumption of marijuana.

How much has our society spent trying to enforce marijuana laws? How
many people are sitting in jails around America simply because we
can't get over the reefer madness myth?

How many of our kids have criminal records simply because someone
thought that alcohol prohibition worked so well in 1920 that we should
try it again with marijuana?

Today, the main problem with marijuana is not its "intoxicating" (for
lack of a better word) effect, but rather that in order to get it you
have to tap into the criminal marketplace. I don't know about you, but
I really don't want our kids associating with criminals.

It's time we all got over the reefer madness mythology and simply
recognize that marijuana is really a benign herb with little inherent
danger unto itself, and legalize it.

Let's just take it out of the criminal marketplace and stop spending
so much of our fortune criminalizing our kids.

Yes, we should have laws to restrict driving under the influence, just
as we do with alcohol, but if we can buy alcohol at gas stations,
carry-outs, grocery stores and pharmacies, there's no reason that we
can't treat marijuana the same way.

Just as we did during Prohibition, we're doing more damage than good
in trying to enforce our insane marijuana laws today.

I suppose I will hold my nose and vote for passage of Prop 203,
recognizing the needs of those for whom it will have some medical
benefit, but folks, it's not the answer.