DON'T CRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA

Should marijuana users really be given the same punishments as a
rapist or pedophiles? If you are going to try and criminalize
marijuana again, don't lack the research on the medicinal herb.

I am appalled that the government wants to put me in jail for five
years because I have 4 ounces of herb. Personally I get more impaired
from legal drugs, such as coffee, alcohol and pharmaceuticals, than I
do from marijuana.

However, let us step back from this so-called "drug" and see what
products can be made from the plants stalks (hemp). I have split the
uses into these categories: food, healing, toiletries, textile,
household and industrial. Below are a few products under each category:

* Food: hemp oil is high in essential fatty acids, drizzled over salad,
pasta, hummus, and used for baking.

* Healing: aromatherapy, salve, and nutritional healing.

* Toiletries: lipstick, sunscreen, soaps, hand and body lotions and
shampoo.

* Textile: socks, shirts, shoes, tarps, wallets, jackets, bags, belts
and napkins.

* Household: rugs/carpet, paint, shoe polish, webbing, cordage,
candles, crayons and laundry detergent.

* Industrial: pulp and paper, plaster, plastic, concrete, wood chips
and bio-diesel fuel.

When will the people realize we are running out of resources? When
will we adapt as humans and stop prosecuting others for using much
more than a medicinal herb? This renewable resource should be
embraced, not criminalized.

William Connor

Fairbanks