KEEP POT ILLEGAL FOR THE SAKE OF OUR KIDS

As any cop will tell you, they are tough. They can handle any violent
criminal. They look danger in the face and laugh. "Come and give me your
best shot!"

If you have ever seen cops with their testosterone flowing, they act pretty
bad-ass. Once you see them on the inside of a jail, they are God. They are
the power of your world, and looking them in the eye is deserving of a
beating. So why are they so consumed with keeping marijuana illegal?

Here's my theory: If I put my life in danger every time I had to answer a
call, because I might meet gunfire, I would long to bust the nonviolent
marijuana smoker. They offer no resistance, no danger, no threat, and I
would be safe for four or five hours in paperwork - safe for another shift
with overtime pay (not to mention the kudos I would get from supervisors).
I would fight to make sure I only had to answer these calls, not the real
police-work calls (murders, rapes and robberies).

But as for this policeman, I want to keep marijuana illegal and a priority
for a different reason: for the sake of our kids.

- -Stephen Lawrence

Garden Grove, Calif.