THE POINTS FOR MAKING IT LEGAL

The fellow reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a marijuana
cigarette. Lighting it, he said matter-of-factly, "Would you like a
joint?"

I declined. Not from fear I might be turned instantly into an
incurable addict. Not because I feared being tempted to try harder
drugs. Not even out of any kind of moral superiority.

The only pot I ever inhaled gave me a headache. My wife and I used to
go to Sunday movie matinees and sit in the balcony, where we could
smoke good ole, legal, health-destroying American tobacco. It was
impossible, however, not to inhale the second-hand pot fumes from
those around us imbibing in something I always had been told would
totally destroy my life.

I've more than mellowed on the marijuana issue, however. In fact, I
really don't see why Arkansas doesn't go all the way and legalize pot
after putting a heavy tax on it, just like we've done with booze and
cigarettes. It's pretty obvious we're not going to stop people from
puffing the stuff.

As for ruining lives, I'm increasingly convinced state and federal
governments have ruined the lives of people who smoke marijuana far
more than the substance itself.

Before you start jumping up and down and organizing protest rallies,
I'm not saying that pot cannot be abused. Obviously, it can impair
your ability to control a motor vehicle or operate machinery or
perform any number of other human endeavors, much the same as whiskey
or beer can. In heavy and prolonged use, I guess it can destroy brain
cells.

I'm not suggesting we legalize the consequences of puffing on this
weed, just decriminalize the weed itself. I continue to read and be
told that in moderation marijuana inflicts less bodily injury to the
occasional user than tobacco.

We should not encourage our children to consume alcohol, tobacco, pot
or any other potentially harmful substance. In today's society,
however, young people too often see parents and other adults doing all
of the above. For millions of Americans, it is pure hypocrisy for
countless moms and dads to tell their children not to do things the
kids are apt to catch their elders actually doing.

Legalizing marijuana would restore a degree of honesty to our often
less-than-truthful culture. Every possible incentive, including laws
like those forbidding the sale of tobacco and alcohol to minors,
should be retained and strictly enforced.

I believe the American people once again are far ahead of their
elected representatives on the marijuana legalization issue. Canada,
which already allows legal marijuana consumption for the control of
chronic pain in people with cancer and other illnesses, this fall will
launch an experiment in which any adult will be allowed to purchase
small amounts of pot over the counter at the corner pharmacy without a
prescription.

The least America can do is observe this experiment and see how it
either works or fails. In Canada, the only problem I see is that the
government seems a bit greedy in charging $110 per ounce for the
stuff. Canadian patients using government pot have criticized the
quality - not the price - of the weed, however. Some have said the
illegal variety does them more "good" than the legal stuff.

By contrast, it remains against federal law to possess any amount of
marijuana for any purpose anywhere in the United States. Penalties for
a first offense marijuana violation range from probation to long
prison sentences. Eleven states have decriminalized marijuana, but
most retain harsh laws against the drug. In Louisiana, you can get 20
years for selling 1 ounce. In Washington, selling even one joint
brings a recommended sentence of five years.

According to The New York Times, about 700,000 people get arrested for
violating marijuana laws in this country each year. Most get charged
with simple possession and are convicted of misdemeanors. Those
nonfelony arrests, however, frequently carry jail time that costs
people their jobs or suspensions of drivers' licenses.

In some states, possession of as little as 1 ounce is a felony. Some
states make a marijuana arrest grounds for denial of food stamps or
other federal welfare programs, while allowing convicted murderers and
rapists to continuing receiving such benefits.

Meanwhile, state and federal governments will spend hundreds of
millions of our tax dollars this year to arrest and confine people for
smoking pot.

I don't think I'm standing up for potheads. What I'm saying is this:
Aren't there better uses for that money, like going after those who
traffic in hard drugs that do far more documented harm? Ronald Reagan
declared war on marijuana in 1982; we've been losing that war ever
since. Isn't it time to try a new approach?

I believe it is, but you won't see political candidates with the
courage to take on such a controversial idea in this election year.
For politicians, it's far easier for them to stick with the status quo
and the lives it frequently ruins than to consider alternatives that
just might save some money and make our justice system a bit more fair.

Fairness flies out the window when it comes to marijuana law
enforcement. Punishment depends strictly on where you get busted, and
that's just flat wrong.

Life, luck and -30-.