READERS SOUND OFF

Reaction Largely Supports Legalizing Marijuana

* Editor's note: The following comments by readers are in response to
the Star's Dec. 9-11 series "Stash City," which examined the marijuana
trade in the region.

I believe marijuana should be legalized, as it is in Holland. This
would save us billions.

Bill Fortier

Criminalization corrupts law enforcement, threatens civil rights and
misallocates resources. It's time we had a rational discussion of this
problem.

Gerald Weissinger

Retired, age 67

The drug war has been lost for years. In my view, legalize the stuff
and tax it. We need to learn the lesson that Prohibition taught us
many years ago. Filling prisons with drug users and pushers is not the
answer.

Gene Burns

Addiction is a medical illness and needs to be treated as such. The
answer to drug addiction is treatment centers and support groups where
addicts focus on getting well and changing their behavior patterns. If
the United States really wanted the war on drugs to end, it would end
it.

Martha B. Fray

Until it is legalized and marijuana is decriminalized, nothing will
change, except that the profits will increase and the violence and
underworld involved will continue to grow.

Ed Blum

World War II veteran

Europe has laws allowing the use of marijuana for social use, and I
don't believe there have been any ill effects. On the contrary, it has
freed law enforcement from trying to enforce unenforceable anti-drug-
use laws for more serious matters.

Charles Fleming

Holland's cafes sell small amounts of marijuana and have practically
no problems in behavior by their purchasers.

Marge Green

Age 84

Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has the correct approach. We cannot afford to
discard all the would-be marijuana users. Legalization would result in
much wider addiction. I do not want my grandchildren addicted, and I
do not want to suffer accidents caused by impaired people.

John Van De Beuken

Although I believe the possession of less than an ounce ought to be
legal, I think the laws should be as strict as possible for any adult
who sells marijuana to a juvenile.

Mickey Grace

Legalize it. We keep throwing more and more money at the problem and
it just gets bigger. Remove the illicit thrill, and sales would more
than likely drop. The enormous amount of monies spent in the futile
attempts to control it would be better spent on the trauma centers,
education or food for the hungry.

Barbara Young

Grandparent, age 63

Heightened enforcement, interdiction, economic pressure and other
action against nations that produce drugs and prison time (with rehab
offered as a means of reducing the sentence) are the only means our
society will ever be rid of the plague of drugs.

Thomas Wheeler

Why is the following rarely seen in print? The opinion of Sheriff
Clarence Dupnik or any other law enforcement officer should be heard
in full knowledge that every law enforcement agency in America has a
vested interest in not winning the drug war. They can all apply for a
share of the spoils of skirmishes won, in addition to the bureaucratic
need for self-preservation.

Geoffrey Levinson

Retired teacher

How do we now get the huge army of law enforcement folks, drug-war
bureaucrats and elected officials who promise to save us from this
horrible drug affliction, all of whom benefit mightily from its
prohibition, to dismantle the anti-marijuana laws? Perhaps the
national media could spearhead an informal national referendum. Or
perhaps we could begin electing libertarians to important offices.
Clearly, Republicans and Democrats have failed the test.

Donald W. Getts

Retired college faculty

A majority of Arizona voters have legalized marijuana twice, only to
be ignored by the Legislature. The biggest profits are made by law
enforcement, the incarceration industry and the legal profession.

Paul Voss