MORE ON MARIJUANA

I picked up the Daily Southtown this past weekend and was pleasantly
surprised to read about the governor's race and pot smoking. More to the
point, though, I was happy to see that there were so many educated readers
writing-in, as it were, to sound off on this important issue.

My reason for writing to you today is two-fold: to congratulate you on this
public forum, and to write about my own opinions regarding this issue.

Like most other readers, I too agree that marijuana needs to be
decriminalized and, ultimately, made legal for those over the age of 18. It
should be handled in much the same way as we treat alcohol, tobacco, and
other mind-altering drugs. Make no mistake about it, even caffeine and
chocolate are stimulants, which probably explains why the Mormons have
banned coffee and tea from their diets.

The problem with the continued criminalization of marijuana is that we get
into political tangles such as the one that the Southtown exposed: A
political candidate's effort to spin the experience of his youth.

The fact is that the "Smoking Hot Rod" is a mirror image of the rest of us:
The son of immigrants, and one who grew up working for a living and
enjoying and partaking in the experiences of his community. Marijuana,
then, is part of "The Everday" and something that many of us have
experimented with ... just like beer, cigarettes, and espresso. The
question of whether or not he inhaled is ridiculous and embarrasing, at
least as far as I am concerned.

Marijuana, to contradict one of your readers, has not always been
"illegal." It became illegal and criminalized in the 1930s along with
alcohol (remember Prohibition?). In the end, only alcohol and tobacco
enjoyed the fruits of lobbying while marijuana did not.

Finally, there is a direct correlation between the criminalization of
marijuana and the rising prison incarceration of African American and
Latino youth. I wonder what your readers would say about this?

Jose Angel Hernandez

Chicago