POT' PROHIBITION LEADS TO HARD DRUGS

I have been reading with interest the many stories about the meth epidemic
in our state. Meth is a devastating drug that consumes its users' lives,
ravages their bodies and endangers the community.

The reason that meth has become so popular is because it only stays in your
system for 72 hours, thus diminishing the risk of failing a urine test
(whereas the natural, non-addictive herb marijuana can be detected for up
to 45 days).

People can cook up a brew of toxic chemicals quicker and more covertly than
they can tend to a garden of beautiful, healthy herbs. When will our
society realize that the more we criminalize marijuana, the greater the
likelihood of harder drugs being introduced to the market becomes?
Humankind has always sought to alter its' state of consciousness. It is
natural to want to do so, and no matter how many prohibition laws are
passed, that will never change.

Before Richard Nixon paid $50 million to the king of Nepal to make
marijuana illegal, there were no heroin junkies in Nepal. Now the streets
are filled with them.

The drug war has consistently failed for 30 years. Using the same tactics
to battle the meth epidemic guarantees failure.

It is time to try a new approach. Make marijuana legal and you diminish the
meth problem.

LORETTA NALL

President

Alabama Marijuana Party

Alexander City