MARIJUANA OPPONENTS SHOULD DEFEND VIEWS

For someone who claims that "smoking weed -- that is, committing a crime --
is not the issue" (Do it, but don't get caught?, Insight, July 15), Robert
Eisinger takes up a lot of space in his essay discussing marijuana. But I
will take him at his word that for him the issue has to do with
"appreciating the role of the government as a legal authority."

Eisinger seems to think that those who question the authority of government
"appear to be embracing a laissez-faire moralism." Yet he never considers
that some people may regard the law against marijuana to be unjust.

In this regard, those people do not have a libertarian stance against that
law. Instead, they are asking why there is a law against using marijuana.
They are asking: Is this particular law just? Those who support sending
people to prison for breaking this law must be called upon to defend their
reasons, because one of the harshest things the government can do to a
citizen is lock him or her in jail.

Yes, some of you may not like to see people smoking marijuana in public.
And some of you may not like to see people gathering signatures to legalize
it. That is your right. However, it is not your right to send someone to
jail for smoking marijuana simply because you do not understand their need
to "just do it."

In the end, one would like to believe that in the United States, the land
of freedom, people should not need to justify their recreational use of
marijuana, just as people should not need to justify their love of Etta
James' vocal talent.

Richard Bolcavitch
Lake Oswego