Drug war must end

I agree with Carol Clopton’s view (11/4, Letters) that the drug wars need to end. The argument that legalizing marijuana would bring about a society of “pot heads” is ludicrous. People make choices every day whether they choose to smoke cigarettes, consume alcohol or partake in any number of other vices in life.

Just because something is legal doesn’t mean everyone will choose to do it. This country is about freedom of choices. The choices we make for ourselves and our families affect how we live, and I would much rather trust my own choices in life to myself and not to the government or law enforcement.

John Cogan
Kansas City

Why be against a drug that could better the world? In today’s economy with the recession and America’s debt, we need a way to solve these problems. Taxing marijuana could bring America out of its debt and into a surplus.

By taxing marijuana you could have medical and recreational use. The Drug Enforcement Administration spends billions of dollars trying to fight marijuana, and federal officials are losing the money. But not fighting saves dollars.

The use of marijuana (buying, selling and using) should become legal.

Lauren Chaney
Lenexa

Comments

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

markf, part of the poisining and sickness is the assumption that a collge degree leaves a person more qualified or educated.
It really depends on what the degree is and the person. I know plenty of people that have graduate degres that are dumb as a tree limb. I also know people that have no more than high school educations that are intellects. All we have to do is look at the dipsticks in Washington and many of these hotshots that run businesses into the gutter. I agree, innovation and enterpriseers will bring us back, unfortunately we ill not see tha happen with a liberal, anti-enterprise, welfare entitlement society that love this deadbeat we have running the circus.

[markf]

I'm sorry but Marijuana is pretty awesome plant. When grown properly to its full potential (high THC), wohhaa watch out you're in for a blast from the past. HAMMER TIME!! Anyone who thinks MJ is laced you're obliviously into harder things coco, metha, and h. Or you are just lost and pick up dirt for your local.
I hate to say this but America is really sick right now. I mean 1/3 of our children are FAT!!! Doctors are now calling it a disease that is plaguing our children, ha, pretty funny considering we chose what we eat. We do not export raw goods anymore. Put simply no one in the world is interested in our raw goods. Such as the following: corn, wheat, rice, timber, steel
I believe 20 million Americans are now on anti anything pills. Can't sleep, we got a pill for that! Feeling blue? Here's your upper!! I mean it's ridiculous and to think MJ has all these implications, you're lost. WE ARE SICK AS A NATION. If anyone thinks otherwise, travel abroad, maybe you can spark a conversation with a local. They won’t tell you but you will be talked down to like you’re a second world citizen. In an abstract way we are becoming exactly that. A second world country. WOOT WOOT!!
We try so hard to be a service nation yet so new to the concept. As a country our back bone relied on raw materials and goods as exports. We fueled our own economy. We did not rely on cheap foreign labor and materials to run our country. Here we come globalization, no rules, just a free for all. YEAH!!
Of course my generalizations are very rudimentary and simplistic in nature but we as a nation are in some pretty deep water right now, right below the nose. We can still breathe but no one is in sight to pull us out.
Your community college just isn’t gonna cut it. Talking about it, naw. These are all pointless arguments. It’s what you do about it. Simple, how do you contribute? Do you offer something of true value? And paying 30k a year for a college education speaks for itself.
There’s not going to be any sort of closing argument or anything like that just this; Europe has been around for centuries, America is a relatively new nation. We are in a serious downward spiral and might just descend into second world status. Young entrepreneurs built this country and they will once again save it. Embrace what they have to offer and be thankful. Put a smile on, good times will be restored by the young and youthful. True Americans.

[Jazz-Man]

The issue is that marijuana is not just marijuana, its laced with so much stuff now that many people have died smoking it. We need to look at the bigger pic; pot heads dont smoke reg marijuana they smoke kind bud, ruffieplant, goochimane, cheechchong and all the other altered marijuana out there.

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

Only organics should be legal, blaming pot for continue and further substanc abuse is like blaming Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Issue for progressing into pornography.
It is a fact that NO ONE has EVER over dosed on pot, people die all the time from alcohol related behaviors and alcohol narly always a component in domestic violence, weed asa stand alone in DV, seldom.
Also people that have never smoked weed, have no business claiming they know squat.
It's like saying you know what it's like to do hard time when you never have or know what it's like to be poor when you never have. (uuuhmmmm....MR President).

[Flash]

Zeno - you're probably right. I know a lot of alcoholics who would glady stop drinking if they could smoke pot. In fact, the illegality of pot is the reason that they started drinking in the first place. Random drug screenings don't punish alcoholics.

[Zeno]

First off, when I start meeting meth, coke, and heroine addicts who did not start with pot I will consider your argument.

And stop the stupidity if you make it leagl there will be more users. Period.

[Jazz-Man]

John a good majority of those people choose out of the uncontrollable urge to abuse the alcohol or drug meaning that they have a problem. Stop worrying about what the government is going to make and worry how we already have a problem and how it will only get worse three fold if they legalize it,.

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

Organics should b as legal as produce or other natural plants. There are several entities that benefit from weed being illegal. Lawyers make big money representing "criminals", prisons make big money housing them, Bible thumpers get their kicks on route 66 and big pharma stands to lose big dollas, so it will probably never happen. Then even if it did, our current administration would give out Dorito vouchers or checks to buy them with for ONLY some folks at the cost of otehr folks. What we really need is the war on dads and families to stop.

[Kee]

Okay, where the hell are the Doritos?