PENALTIES FOR REEFER DON'T DETER SMOKERS

Legalize pot, Erik Bussa? Great idea, but your proposed longer prison
sentences are outrageous. If pot becomes legal, most people that smoke
consistently will grow it on their own. And why not? I would grow marijuana
if it were legalized. Why, you ask? Because it would be so much cheaper to
grow it myself, and the American government would be bound to charge
inflated prices.

Another thing, America's prison system is already bursting to the gills
with minor drug offenders and your lengthy sentences would overpopulate
them even more. Your column, while it had some common sense, seemed to be
your forum to explicate your impressive vocabulary of marijuana slang
terms. In turn, this made you come off like a complete idiot. This is the
second article, and I'm almost certain there are others, that you claim
harsher prison terms will solve America's problems. We are human, and we
all make mistakes, so lighten up and take a toke.

Matt Carney, Freshman in Natural Resources