Dear Editor,
Not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients
in need, but adult recreational use should be regulated.
Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise
to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don’t ID for
age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much
for protecting the children.Throwing more money at the problem is
no solution.
Marijuana prohibition perfect example of drug war follies
Dear Editor,
Not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should be regulated.
Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don’t ID for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for protecting the children.Throwing more money at the problem is no solution.
Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn’t fight crime, it fuels crime.
Taxing and regulating marijuana, the most popular illicit drug, is a cost-effective alternative to never-ending drug war.
As long as marijuana distribution is controlled by organized crime, consumers
will continue to come into contact with hard drugs like methamphetamine. This “gateway” is a direct result of marijuana prohibition.
Given that marijuana is arguably safer than alcohol – the plant has never been shown to cause an overdose death – it makes no sense to waste tax dollars on failed policies that finance organized crime and facilitate the use of hard drugs.
Drug policy reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like to think
the children are more important than the message.
Robert Sharpe, policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C.
Republican victory? Media must be living in an alternate universe
Dear Editor,
It was kind of weird seeing the news media declaring the Republicans the winners in the recent election and that it’s some sort of referendum on President Obama?
Perhaps the news media is living in some alternate universe where everything is backwards?
The Republicans won the governor’s races in two state elections, while the Democrats won all the federal elections increasing their majority in Congress where it counts.
In one race the Republican candidate dropped out and endorsed the Democrat. Seems to me that if you can’t even get your candidate to vote Republican, then it’s the Republicans who should be worried about the next election.
Marc Perkel, Gilroy
