WE CAN'T STOP USE OR ILLEGAL SALE OF POT, SO WHY NOT CONTROL, TAX IT?

In my sheltered existence I can only testify to what I have seen and
experienced. I have seen the effects of marijuana and I have seen and
experienced the effects of alcohol. I have never seen anyone die from
the physical effects of marijuana. However, I have seen death as an
immediate or prolonged effect of alcohol. I have never picked up a pot
user passed out on icy ground to keep him from freezing to death but I
have done this with a drunk.

We have tried and failed to criminalize alcohol. In the process we
made it an undercover mega-business that caused wars, killing and vast
amounts of uncontrolled revenue. At the same time Prohibition tempted
more people to drink than ever before. It's naive to think we can stop
the use or illegal sale of pot, so why not learn from human nature to
control and tax the use of it and thereby curtail the drug lords,
violence and killing now associated with it.

It would be nice to leave the situation as it is and put the whole
thing out of sight and out of mind. Let's face it, though. Pot is not
going away.

John E. Fischback

Anchorage