LEGALIZE 'THE FORBIDDEN' AND USE WILL DECREASE

I agree with letter writer Thomas Laprade (Legalize Pot And Use Would
Decrease, July 24).

It is human nature for people to want what they are told they cannot have,
especially children. Before marijuana was criminalized in the U.S. via the
Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, the vast majority of Americans had never heard of
marijuana. Now everybody knows what marijuana is and the U.S. government
estimates that at least 76 million Americans have used it. About half of all
high school students will use marijuana before they graduate.

The lure of the forbidden fruit is very powerful. In the Netherlands, where
marijuana is available to adults without criminal sanctions, marijuana use
is about half the rate of U.S. use.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.