DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA

I'm writing about Keith J. Johnson's Jan. 5 letter, "Sending mixed
signals." I agree with Johnson that we are sending mixed messages
about drug use, but those messages aren't about drug
paraphernalia.

The mixed messages we are sending are about criminalizing marijuana, a
natural herb that has never been documented to kill a single person in
the 5,000 year history of its use, while we allow tobacco products to
be sold legally.

So, should we criminalize tobacco products? Absolutely not. If we
criminalized tobacco products, tobacco would be untaxed, unregulated
and controlled by criminal gangs just like recreational drugs are
today. Soon we would have tobacco lords, tobacco cartels and
tobacco-related crime.

If tobacco products were criminalized, we would soon have tobacco
addicts robbing, stealing and committing acts of prostitution to
obtain their drug of choice tobacco.

Tobacco usage has been substantially reduced with simple truthful
education. The key word is truthful.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.