Toughening Marijuana Laws

I found it interesting that it is the politicians and not the police who favor re-criminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana. (Federal drug czar) William Bennett, (former congressman and current state attorney general candidate) Daniel Lungren and (Dist. Atty.) Ira Reiner are indulging their own particular pipe dreams if they believe that treating marijuana users as felons will help solve the problem of drug abuse in the U.S. Despite its reputation as the “demon weed with roots in hell,” medical and statistical evidence bears out the fact that marijuana is no more dangerous than alcohol or tobacco.

When the U.S. government tried to criminalize the use of alcohol, alcohol use increased, crime increased, and criminal gangs ruled the streets of American cities. Prohibition was a historic failure. During the period of marijuana decriminalization, marijuana use has leveled off and decreased. Decriminalization has been a success in dealing with drug use. It seems ludicrous in a state where police are so busy they cannot respond to death threats phoned in to 911, that police should be asked to increase their enforcement of a crime in which the criminal is of negligible danger to himself or others.

I am not condoning the use of marijuana, nor for that matter alcohol or tobacco. I am merely pointing out that the “iron-fist” method of dealing with drugs is good only for scoring political points. Drug abuse, whether it is alcohol, tobacco, marijuana or cocaine, is best treated with education and therapy, not handcuffs and imprisonment.

DENNIS A. SMITH

Los Angeles