LEGALIZING MARIJUANA AN EFFECTIVE ALTERNATIVE

It's all very well for newspaper editors to get their knickers in a knot
about reducing the number of marijuana grow-ops, but where is the
recognition implementing their suggestions will cost a lot of money and
possibly some of our liberty too? ("Out of control,"March 16.) How much are
you willing to see your tax bill escalate to build thousands of prisons for
all those evil marijuana growers you want judges to incarcerate? How easy
do you want to make it for police to snoop out information about what you
are doing in the privacy of your home? How many murders of innocent
bystanders caught in the crossfire between rival gangs are you prepared to
tolerate as tougher laws consign the marijuana business to hard-core
criminals? Legalizing marijuana is surely a less-costly alternative and
unlike your knee-jerk response, an effective one to boot.

Alan Randell

(Grow-ops would not disappear if pot was legalized.)