A COLOSSAL WASTE

Letter writer John Chase ("Not the solution," April 5) was right on
the money - literally.

Your article of April 2 ("Deputies putting a stop to pot") described
how deputies in three counties are joined by a helicopter pilot to
detect and eradicate the "demon weed," marijuana.

In testimony given during a June 1999 medical marijuana trial in Levy
County, a police helicopter pilot stated that more than 70 such
helicopters are used regularly throughout Florida. Such operations not
only cost Florida taxpayers enormous amounts of money, they also
divert law enforcement officers from far more productive work in terms
of actually protecting and serving the public.

A report just issued by Texas NORML detailed that marijuana
prohibition laws cost the state of Texas more than $3 billion annually
for law enforcement, criminal trials, incarceration costs and
probation supervision. In addition, it considered the lost revenue
that could otherwise be gained if marijuana were moved into a taxed
and regulated marketplace and removed from the current underground,
criminal-controlled marketplace.

It is reasonable to state that Florida bears similar costs based on
its size difference compared with Texas.

It's time to end the War on Marijuana and reconsider the colossal
waste of our tax dollars spent arresting Floridians who grow a
politically incorrect plant.

STEPHEN HEATH
Drug Policy Forum of Florida
Clearwater