Pubdate: Fri, 8 May 2009 Source: DrugSense Weekly (DSW) Website: http://www.drugsense.org LETTER OF THE WEEK REPEAL MARIJUANA PROHIBITION By Lee Gilbert An open letter to our elected representatives regarding marijuana legalization: A recent column in the Wall Street Journal (Weekend Edition, April 26) made the case for marijuana decriminalization leading to legalization. (There was also a column offering an opposing position on drugs.) Also recently, the University of Colorado was the site for a National Forum on Marijuana sponsored by the student organization NORML. I attended some of those sessions. On April 20, there was the non-sanctioned, non-violent, civil-disobedient 4/20 cannabis celebration on the CU campus that I observed. An estimated 10,000 people attended. Marijuana is wrongly listed as a Schedule 1 drug -- that it is highly addictive and has no medical use. Clearly this classification is wrong. Given the widespread and routine use of marijuana by large segments of the public, the acknowledged use of it by prominent public officials and its relatively safe profile (certainly as compared to tobacco and alcohol), it is absolutely astounding to me that marijuana prohibition continues. That in a time of huge budget deficits we are wasting money enforcing this marijuana prohibition, arresting and imprisoning non-violent marijuana users at great cost and increasing violent drug-related crime by artificially increasing the profitability of the marijuana industry is simply unconscionable. I strongly urge that you work to decriminalize and then legalize marijuana. Having on the books a law that is routinely ignored and only selectively enforced is a prescription for disrespect for all laws. It's time to repeal marijuana prohibition. Lee Gilbert Boulder Pubdate: Mon, 27 Apr 2009 Source: Colorado Daily (Boulder, CO) Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n459/a06.html - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake