MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION IDEA RAISES LOTS OF QUESTIONS

This is about the logistics of marijuana legalization, not whether it
is helpful to the sick and certainly not about whether its use is
authorized by the Bible. Those issues are for other people in other
places.

Much has been said about legalization but very little about how it
would be accomplished. Legalization is supposed to "close the gateway
to other drugs" and "take the profit" out of the marijuana trade. How
will it work?

Start with the cost of legalization. Who will sell it? Persons already
capable of selling controlled substances like drugs (pharmacies),
alcohol (liquor stores) or cigarettes (just about everybody)? Will we
create a Marijuana Control Board? Who will pay the sellers? How will
the state get its share? Where will the state get its inventory?

Who will be able to buy it? Anyone who wants it? Otherwise, how do you
close the gate and take the profit out? How does selling marijuana
legally close the gate to other illegal drugs?

Who will price it? The market? Since marijuana is a high-profit item,
will the illegals simply undercut the state's price and continue to
sell to the persons with money to buy? What about the after-hours
trade, how do you police it? If a legal age is set, will those
underage circumvent the system by illegally buying legally purchased
marijuana or continue to buy from their current illegal supplier?

The list of questions could go on and on but legalization doesn't seem
to be much of a solution to this problem.

I don't wish to cast aspersions on people I don't know who advocate
legalization, but is the whole process designed to make drug use
socially acceptable?

What's next?

Doug Brackett

Kernersville