WHY NOT LEGALIZE POT?

Thank you for The Union's excellent coverage of the recent marijuana
raids on what were purportedly Mexican cartel plantations on state and
federal lands in Nevada County.

The fact, as reported by The Union, that only seized marijuana in
California - and not the total crop we didn't stop - now has a greater
economic value than the state's most lucrative agricultural commodity,
milk, should be a signpost to what we must now do.

My brother and sisters in law enforcement have risked their skins and
our tax payer dollars for too long to stop the supply of marijuana.
And to what end? The fact that foreign nationals are growing weed in
our own county, after four decades of marijuana interdiction, attests
to the monumental failure of this effort. It's time we turned our
attention to the real drug threats - methamphetamine, for one. Now
that needs stopping.

When was the last time a pothead held up a liquor store?

Legalize it. I don't smoke it, but I'm tired of paying the government
to stop people who supply the people who do. Legalization will cause
an almost instant drop in the price of pot, and we will see the end of
illegal growing on land that should have trees growing on it.

Jordan Smith

Nevada City