Seizures of Marijuana
Your front-page story Nov. 25 states that 37,600 pounds of marijuana have been seized this year by Los Angeles police and 8,146 pounds by the Los Angeles sheriff. Rather than incinerating this amount, as is the current practice, why not make it available at reasonable prices to the many medical users of marijuana in Los Angeles? The voters of California approved the use of medical marijuana, but where we are to buy it at reasonable prices?
Why not sell this unused marijuana to the Cannabis Buyer’s Club at a reasonable price, put the money into the general fund (can anyone deny Los Angeles needs the money?), and compassion and reason will be served.
PETER McWILLIAMS
Los Angeles
* Welcome to the realities of drug supply-side economics. The profits of drug dealing are astronomical, and those who desire the product are willing to pay for it. Raid the farm, and the growers move indoors. If the bulk of marijuana is inconvenient, the THC can be concentrated. Law enforcement is just making it more popular, and more profitable and expedient to produce.
Given this persistent demand, when law enforcement seized half the supply, the producers imported or grew twice as much as needed. If 90% were seized, 10 times the amount demanded would be produced. Seize 99% and they will produce 100 times as much. And, even if we brought in the military, devoted every available resource (at the taxpayer expense, of course) and managed to seize 99.9% of all illegal drugs . . . well, you do the math.
LYNN CAROL
San Diego
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