NAPANS ON POT LAWS

Each week, napavalleyregister.com posts a "Question of the Week" and
seeks reader responses. The poll results are not scientific, though
the Register takes steps to minimize the possibility that individuals
vote multiple times. Thursday, June 28, 2007

Here are the results of the most recent poll, and some reader
comments. To see this week's question, scroll down the front page of
napavalleyregister.com.

Question of the week: Should marijuana be legalized?

Total votes: 616

No -- 183 (30 percent)

Yes -- 433 (70 percent)

"Legalize it, regulate it and tax it. People are doing it anyway,
there are proven medicinal uses for it, just do it and get it over
with. Think of all the revenue this would bring the city, county,
state and beyond."

"If the profit was taken out of sales of marijuana and the courts
freed from prosecutions of those who violate marijuana laws, the state
would be in much better shape financially while the courts could
concentrate on real crime."

"Everyone says legalize it and tax it, but that is exactly the
problem. You can only tax what goes through the stores, and it is such
an easy product to make yourself, it would be impossible to tax it."

"The issue is not whether marijuana is bad for you. It is, 'How does
the government get their share?'"

"The world would be a lot safer if it were made legal because it would
be off the streets and regulated in shops just like alcohol and ciggs."

"We already have more than enough social and health problems
associated with alcohol and tobacco. The last thing we need to do is
encourage yet more self-destructive behavior by legalizing marijuana."

"Fatty food is unhealthy, causes millions of deaths, millions of
health problems and drives up health care costs. Driving causes a huge
death toll. Handguns are made to kill people. Smoking, alcohol,
refined sugar ... shall we ban them all? Or shall we be adults and
take responsibility for our own actions and stop trying to tell
everyone else how to live their own lives?"

"Don't punish responsible adults who want the choice to enjoy a safer
and more intellectually accommodating mind-altering substance than
alcohol."

"Marijuana is, for many individuals, a psychologically and
physiologically addictive drug. It is also a 'gateway drug' to
introduce others, especially young people, into the harder drugs.
While some are able to 'take it or leave it' after using it, if
legalized, a greater segment of the population will become chronically
addicted to its use."

"If marijuana is a gateway drug, it is only because it is illegal. The
illegality of it brings it into the area of other illegal drugs and
introduces new users to these other drugs also."

"Making marijuana 'legal' for anyone to use for any reason -- other
than medical -- would be a very big mistake. After all, it is known to
be addictive, and that's a problem even, if it doesn't lead to the use
of more powerful drugs for all users! However, making it available for
medical use -- via a doctor's prescription only -- could potentially
improve the lives of many people (cancer victims, etc.), and that
makes good sense to me."

Napans on pot laws Each week, napavalleyregister.com posts a "Question
of the Week" and seeks reader responses. The poll results are not
scientific, though the Register takes steps to minimize the
possibility that individuals vote multiple times. Thursday, June 28,
2007

Here are the results of the most recent poll, and some reader
comments. To see this week's question, scroll down the front page of
napavalleyregister.com.

Question of the week: Should marijuana be legalized?

Total votes: 616

No -- 183 (30 percent)

Yes -- 433 (70 percent)

"Legalize it, regulate it and tax it. People are doing it anyway,
there are proven medicinal uses for it, just do it and get it over
with. Think of all the revenue this would bring the city, county,
state and beyond."

"If the profit was taken out of sales of marijuana and the courts
freed from prosecutions of those who violate marijuana laws, the state
would be in much better shape financially while the courts could
concentrate on real crime."

"Everyone says legalize it and tax it, but that is exactly the
problem. You can only tax what goes through the stores, and it is such
an easy product to make yourself, it would be impossible to tax it."

"The issue is not whether marijuana is bad for you. It is, 'How does
the government get their share?'"

"The world would be a lot safer if it were made legal because it would
be off the streets and regulated in shops just like alcohol and ciggs."

"We already have more than enough social and health problems
associated with alcohol and tobacco. The last thing we need to do is
encourage yet more self-destructive behavior by legalizing marijuana."

"Fatty food is unhealthy, causes millions of deaths, millions of
health problems and drives up health care costs. Driving causes a huge
death toll. Handguns are made to kill people. Smoking, alcohol,
refined sugar ... shall we ban them all? Or shall we be adults and
take responsibility for our own actions and stop trying to tell
everyone else how to live their own lives?"

"Don't punish responsible adults who want the choice to enjoy a safer
and more intellectually accommodating mind-altering substance than
alcohol."

"Marijuana is, for many individuals, a psychologically and
physiologically addictive drug. It is also a 'gateway drug' to
introduce others, especially young people, into the harder drugs.
While some are able to 'take it or leave it' after using it, if
legalized, a greater segment of the population will become chronically
addicted to its use."

"If marijuana is a gateway drug, it is only because it is illegal. The
illegality of it brings it into the area of other illegal drugs and
introduces new users to these other drugs also."

"Making marijuana 'legal' for anyone to use for any reason -- other
than medical -- would be a very big mistake. After all, it is known to
be addictive, and that's a problem even, if it doesn't lead to the use
of more powerful drugs for all users! However, making it available for
medical use -- via a doctor's prescription only -- could potentially
improve the lives of many people (cancer victims, etc.), and that
makes good sense to me."