POLITICIANS FOR SALE

Re "Pot for everyone" (Letters, April 28).

Beyond just the use of marijuana as medicine, why do so many of our
politicians want to keep a natural herb that has never been documented
to kill a single person an illegal substance? Why do apparently
intelligent people want to arrest and jail other people who use or
sell an easy-to-grow weed?

Perhaps, to understand their position, we should study the history of
U.S. alcohol prohibition. The notorious gangster Al Capone made most
of his illegal money from alcohol prohibition. Capone often bragged
that he "owned" the city of Chicago. Obviously, he didn't own all of
the city of Chicago; however, he had most or all of the politicians
and police who ran the city on his payroll. Al Capone was a successful
businessman, and it's not unreasonable to suspect that the drug
cartels of today are following his business model.

It's also not unreasonable to suspect that the drug cartels may have
many high-level politicians and police officials on their payroll.

Obviously, the type of politicians the drug cartels would have on
their payroll are those who advocate the continuation of the status
quo of drug prohibition, which is making the drug cartels so
fabulously wealthy.

I'm not saying that any specific "drug warrior" is on the payroll of
the drug cartels--just a little suspicious. I'm just a little
suspicious of the motives of all of the drug-war cheerleaders.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.