MARIJUANA MYTHS

Someone needs to correct the misinformation that Susie Dugan of PRIDE
was spreading in her letter, "Don't legalize marijuana" (LJS 12/30).
She makes many misstatements and unsupported assertions, but the one
that takes the cake is when she implies that house fires will
increase if marijuana is legalized! In fact, her point illustrates
the most important fact about this whole issue: Illegality makes
marijuana use more dangerous, not less.

Entrepreneurs are forced to grow their product in an inappropriate
place (increasing house fires) because it is illegal. Drug cartels
exist because those in the marijuana business have no legal recourse
in contract disputes. And children, whom Susie purports to care
about, have access to this drug because there is no honest business
person afraid to lose his license and livelihood by selling to a
minor, as with tobacco or alcohol.

Of course, the point she leaves out is that marijuana prohibition
hasn't worked. The market is flooded with pot. Anyone who wants it
can get it. Even in prison, with the most stringent security, 2
percent of prisoners still test positive for THC.

What kind of police state can she justify to save us from this
scourge? A horrible one, I'm afraid.

I don't believe marijuana use is without risks, but Susie would have
us believe that we put our children in danger by legalizing pot; I
say we put them in danger by not. Sign Proposition 19.

Joseph Fraas

Lincoln