Grunion Gazette, 16 Aug 2012 – To The Editor, Regarding your editorial on Aug. 9: 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.
posted on August 16, 2012 by
US CO: PUB LTE: A War That Can’t Be Won
Vail Daily, 15 Aug 2012 – Regarding Butch Mazzuca’s Aug. 12 column: There is a middle ground between drug prohibition and blanket legalization. Switzerland’s heroin maintenance program has been shown to reduce disease, death and crime among chronic users. Providing addicts with standardized doses in a clinical setting eliminates many of the problems associated with illicit heroin use. The Swiss program has inspired heroin maintenance pilot projects in several countries, including Canada. Marijuana should be taxed and regulated like alcohol, only without the ubiquitous advertising. Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. As long as organized crime controls marijuana distribution, consumers will continue to come into contact with sellers of hard drugs.
posted on August 16, 2012 by
US NJ: PUB LTE: Prohibition Doesn’t Work
The Record, 14 Aug 2012 – Regarding "Glacial progress" (Editorial, Aug. 11): If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be fully legal and there would be no medical marijuana debate. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco.
posted on August 7, 2012 by
US MI: PUB LTE: Drug War Too Costly, Ineffective
The Muskegon Chronicle, 07 Aug 2012 – Regarding Brian Hosticka’s Aug. 4 op-ed (Want to empty the jail? Change how we handle drug offenses), the drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2010, there were 853,839 marijuana arrests in the United States, almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not lower rates of use. The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. Decriminalization is a long overdue step in the right direction. Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete. As long as organized crime controls distribution, marijuana consumers will come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana prohibition.
posted on July 31, 2012 by
US CA: PUB LTE: If Marijuana Were Legal
Merced Sun-Star, 30 Jul 2012 – Regarding your July 19 editorial "Wildlands threatened by drug war": If marijuana were fully legal there would be no illegal marijuana farms threatening California wildlands. Legitimate farmers would produce it by the ton at a fraction of the current cost. There is a reason you don’t see Mexican drug cartels sneaking into national forests to cultivate tomatoes and cucumbers. They cannot compete with a legal market. The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican migration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been counterproductive. White Americans did not even begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be entrenched federal bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda.
posted on July 30, 2012 by
US NJ: PUB LTE: Regulate Marijuana Use Drug War Fuels Crime
Asbury Park Press, 27 Jul 2012 – Regarding Assemblyman Declan J. O’Scanlon Jr.’s July 20 commentary, "Medical marijuana: the facts," 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 I.D. for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences.
posted on July 30, 2012 by
US CA: PUB LTE: California Way
San Francisco Chronicle, 28 Jul 2012 – Regarding your July 26 editorial "From chaos to prohibition": It’s true that anyone in California who wants a medical marijuana recommendation can get one. The recommendation allows consumers to purchase locally grown marijuana of known quality and safety from dispensaries that generate tax revenue. As long as there is a demand for marijuana, there will be a supply. Is it somehow preferable that consumers purchase untaxed marijuana from Mexican drug cartels that also sell cocaine, meth and heroin?
posted on July 23, 2012 by
US VT: PUB LTE: On Recent Marijuana Editorial
Brattleboro Reformer, 20 Jul 2012 – Editor of the Reformer: Regarding your July 13 editorial, the use of synthetic marijuana is an unintended side-effect of the war on natural marijuana. Consumers are turning to potentially toxic drugs made in China and sold as research chemicals before being repackaged as legal incense. Expanding the drug war will do little other than add to what is already the highest incarceration rate in the world. Chinese chemists will tweak formulas to stay one step ahead of the law and two steps ahead of the drug tests. New versions won’t be safer. Misguided efforts to protect children from drugs are putting children at risk.
posted on July 23, 2012 by
US VT: PUB LTE: On Recent Marijuana Editorial
Brattleboro Reformer, 20 Jul 2012 – Editor of the Reformer: Regarding your July 13 editorial, the use of synthetic marijuana is an unintended side-effect of the war on natural marijuana. Consumers are turning to potentially toxic drugs made in China and sold as research chemicals before being repackaged as legal incense. Expanding the drug war will do little other than add to what is already the highest incarceration rate in the world. Chinese chemists will tweak formulas to stay one step ahead of the law and two steps ahead of the drug tests. New versions won’t be safer. Misguided efforts to protect children from drugs are putting children at risk.
posted on July 23, 2012 by
US VT: PUB LTE: On Recent Marijuana Editorial
Brattleboro Reformer, 20 Jul 2012 – Editor of the Reformer: Regarding your July 13 editorial, the use of synthetic marijuana is an unintended side-effect of the war on natural marijuana. Consumers are turning to potentially toxic drugs made in China and sold as research chemicals before being repackaged as legal incense. Expanding the drug war will do little other than add to what is already the highest incarceration rate in the world. Chinese chemists will tweak formulas to stay one step ahead of the law and two steps ahead of the drug tests. New versions won’t be safer. Misguided efforts to protect children from drugs are putting children at risk.
