GIVE N.C. SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT

I like what Bernard B. Carmen asks (suggests) in the last paragraph of his
letter to the /Mountain Xpress/: "Asheville Should Arrest Marijuana Policy"
(http://www.mountainx.com/opinion/2004/1117letters.php) [Nov. 17]. Sure
might open some space in the Buncombe County Detention Center if a ballot
initiative from local voters were passed to decriminalize marijuana.
Moreover, it might defer a need for an additional jailhouse in downtown
Asheville. Besides all of that, there is money to be made through a tax
obligation that is currently not being fully complied with - the
"unauthorized substances taxes" (N.C. General Statutes 105-113.105 through
105-113.113 at www.dor.state.nc.us/taxes/usub/substance.html
(http://www.dor.state.nc.us/taxes/usub/substance.html)).

When will our elected leaders use common sense about today's world and
listen to what so many people want from it? I am willing to lend my liberal
voice to the subject of decriminalizing marijuana and providing medical
marijuana to our region. I just don't know how to get a ballot initiative
started. Local growers would benefit by replacing revenue lost to tobacco
wars; locally owned coffee shops could sell marijuana brownies along with
their delicious blends of java; and sick people with any number of ailments
might find comfort in the smoke. North Carolina most certainly would make
the national news, being less criticized for its conservative reputation
[and,] instead, lauded for its progressiveness. Who is next to the podium?
Speak out!

- - Michael J. Harney, Jr.

Asheville