LETTER OF THE WEEK

JUST LEGALIZE IT

By Julie Frisbie

I keep reading articles about marijuana raids everywhere. And I keep
thinking about all the good that would come if it were finally
legalized (not just medically). Not only would this rid people of
growing it in large quantities, but by taxing the use of it would
help California's budget and perhaps boost the economy which is
obviously suffering.

One thing that I would like to make clear is that people who want to
use marijuana will use it the same whether it is illegal or not.
Marijuana also is not as harmful as many people make it out to be.
Why is it that something such as alcohol which kills 85,000 people
annually is legal whereas marijuana has killed 0 and is illegal? This
doesn't make much sense to me. Drug use such as tobacco also kills
between 340,000 and 395,000 people each year. Tobacco and alcohol
both have their age limits and regulations, why can't marijuana have
its own, as well? Especially considering the fact that tobacco and
alcohol kills many people each year and marijuana kills none.

Marijuana is also non-addictive (unless you are part of the 10
percent of Americans who already have an addictive behavior) and has
been proven to be non-violent by the U.S. Shafer Commission.

For the record, I am not a marijuana user, I just don't see the harm
in it. I definitely believe there would be a more positive outcome
from finally legalizing it.

Julie Frisbie

Fortuna

Pubdate: Fri, 20 Nov 2009

Source: Times-Standard (Eureka, CA)