Closing the 405 Freeway; justice in the Casey Anthony case; the medical marijuana debate

405 free-for-all

Re “Locals’ ire doomed a simpler 405 plan,” July 10

Once again, the wishes of a few special interests trump the needs of the many.

The knee-jerk rejection of the alternative Mulholland bridge plan for the spurious reason of hurting the “unique and distinctly rustic character” of the neighborhood is both elitist and wrongheaded. That area of Mulholland Drive hasn’t been rustic for 50 years and has neither character nor specialness; it’s just a bunch of multimillion-dollar houses in the hills. Meanwhile, the public has to suffer.

Our only solace is that their unique rustic character will be a massive traffic jam of their own making for two years.

Morley Stern

Los Angeles

Kudos to the stalwart defenders of the Mulholland bridge, who apparently defeated a cheaper, less-intrusive approach to replacing the bridge with their cries of deserving something “special … perhaps a landmark bridge designed by a world-class architect.”

This is another example of “you can’t make this stuff up.”

Lon M. Burns

Manhattan Beach

A closed freeway is not the end of the world. For those who must be in an affected area, get a room. Otherwise stay home. How hard is that?

We rural-dwellers learned long ago to consolidate errands and deal with such inconveniences as snow. Either leave before the storm or stay home. It’s that simple. And it doesn’t require a daily newspaper article to figure it out.

Carolyn Ziegler-Davenport

Pine Mountain Club, Calif.

Worked up over Casey Anthony

Re “In Casey Anthony’s case, the law worked,” Opinion, July 9

It is obvious that the law did not work in the Casey Anthony case. Our jury system is flawed when slick attorneys can manipulate amateur jurors.

What we need is a system in which jurors must take legal courses, pass a test and are licensed, just like attorneys. They would develop the necessary experience to handle complex cases.

A jury system designed in the 18th century, when just about everyone had the same common experience of being a farmer, is dysfunctional in the modern world.

Roman Nykolyshyn

Pasadena

Robert Shapiro does a wonderful job explaining what the law in this country is all about. I would suggest that those criticizing the Anthony jury review the case and reflect on how fortunate we are to live in a country where the rule of law prevails.

It seems that many have a lynch-mob mentality or even might prefer to live under a regime where summary execution is the rule of law.

Bob McLaughlin

San Simeon, Calif.

Only convoluted trial lawyer logic allows Shapiro to claim that “the law worked” in the Anthony trial. Shapiro is correct — if our paramount goal is to follow a set of rules, not to achieve justice. When attorneys make tactical errors, according to Shapiro’s reasoning, it’s OK to let the guilty get away, so long as it’s all done according to the rules.

Rules are certainly important, but when following them produces an unjust result, that outcome represents a failure, not a success of our legal system.

Andrew Kadar

Los Angeles

The whole story on marijuana

Re “A ruling against medical pot,” July 9

So the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says marijuana has no accepted use for treating diseases. Very interesting, since U.S. Patent No. 6,630,507 states that cannabinoids are useful in the prevention and treatment of a wide variety of diseases.

The patent, awarded in 2003, is assigned to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Given that the U.S. government holds a patent on medical marijuana, how can the DEA be taken seriously?

Jerry Dworkin

Irvine

Our government has determined that marijuana has no medical value, which is probably correct. Marijuana, however, is the most lucrative crop in our state, even more than lettuce. All the money is “underground” and thus untaxed. Police increase its value by destroying any crops they find.

Although illegal, marijuana is big business in Mexico. If the government were smart, it would legalize this plant and tax its sale to the max.

Bill Denneen

Nipomo, Calif.

Re “On marijuana, just the facts,” Editorial, July 17

I agree that whether marijuana should be rescheduled by the DEA below Schedule I should be based on science. Marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance not because it is more dangerous than morphine or cocaine (it isn’t) but because it has no scientifically proven medical use.

When I headed the DEA, I adopted the same policy as the Food and Drug Administration for approving a new drug: whether there are scientific studies demonstrating that a drug is safe and effective. At that time, there were no such studies indicating that marijuana was safe and effective for any medical purpose.

If the proponents of medical marijuana would finance some true double-blind studies by impartial researchers, as opposed to funding more medical marijuana initiatives, we would finally know if marijuana is medically effective. Still, one has to wonder how safe a medicine is that is smoked.

Robert Bonner

Pasadena

The writer was administrator of the DEA from 1990-93.

New state, same old problems

Re “South Carolina, South Dakota … and South California?,” July 11

Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone must have grown up in a different California than mine; mine was green and golden, primarily agricultural and dairy.

A business-friendly, capitalist-oriented Inland Empire? The chief economic growth of the Inland Empire was due to developing affordable communities where families could own a home and commute to work elsewhere.

Stone’s proposed South California excludes Los Angeles County; it includes Orange and San Diego counties. Why would successful counties align themselves with outlying communities?

Southern California’s coastal communities have continued to attract business and prosper.

Sherri Andervich

Beaumont

So Stone wants 13 conservative counties to secede from California? Fine by me, especially if they take Proposition 13 with them.

It will be amusing to see the one-third Democratic minority of their new state Legislature block everything they try to do.

Evan Puziss

Mar Vista

Romney’s record

Re “Romney’s spotty jobs record,” July 11

So apparently the problem with Mitt Romney’s acknowledged job creation in Massachusetts is that it “fell short of expectations”? It does sound similar to what many of President Obama’s supporters are saying about him.

It’s time for wavering conservatives to get on the Romney bandwagon. He obviously has liberals worried, as they seem to be groping for bad things to say about him. By conservatives, of course, I mean people who actually want to see the Republicans win the presidency in 2012.

Patrick M. Dempsey

Granada Hills