LEGALIZING MARIJUANA WOULD SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS ENTIRELY ... RIGHT?

If we legalize marijuana, we get pushers off the street, free up law
enforcement for other duties, and collect taxes from legal marijuana
sales to start up new social programs. What a great idea.

But on the other hand, since it would only be legal for those over age
21 -- according to the latest initiative floated -- wouldn't pushers
target our children with greater intensity to make up for the loss of
their adult clientele? Of course not. What a silly thought. Everyone
would abide by the law. After all it's illegal to sell beer and other
alcoholic beverages to minors, and we don't have a teenage drinking
problem, do we? Of course not. The articles I read in the Anchorage
Daily Worker about teenagers drinking and driving are, no doubt, fabricated.

Kazaam! The light came on; it's so simple. Eliminate age restrictions
on dope, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, etc. We could even integrate
these things into the school lunch program. Then tax dollars would
really roll in. The school nurse could be responsible for sales and
clean needles. Kids could shoot up in the morning to get them through
early classes, then have a beer with lunch in the school cafeteria and
an after-lunch reefer to relieve the tension of afternoon classes.
Hey, it might even reduce the school dropout rate.

Walter Allen Grant

Anchorage