Pubdate: Thu, 16 Jan 2014
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2014 William Smith
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Author: William Smith

THE EASY SOLUTION TO 'SYNTHETIC' MARIJUANA

I see the usual crowd down in Annapolis is waxing hyperbolic about the
socalled "synthetic marijuana" being sold in Maryland and offering the
usual array of non-solutions ("Baltimore County officials seek tighter
ban on synthetic marijuana," Jan. 13).

But here's a thought: If the politicians really want to stop people
from buying these unknown and dangerous chemicals, how about just
following Colorado's lead and legalizing real marijuana instead of
passing overly broad laws that don't really do anything?

The market for second rate knock-offs would disappear overnight, and
instead of ingesting weird and possibly dangerous substances, people
would instead consume a naturally grown herb with the same level of
toxicity as caffeine (and considerably less toxicity than aspirin).

Plus, we would see the benefit of freeing up police resources (and
jail space) for actual violent criminals. It's a win-win solution.

William Smith, Baltimore 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D