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YO FEDS: QUIT THE CHERRY-PICKING

CHOICE - Paul Smith, pharmacy director for West Yavapai Guidance Clinic, wrote in recently in response to Kirk Muse's letter ( March 15 ) that said: "Pot ( and ) alcohol should get same treatment."

Smith pointed out that the Yavapai County supervisors "do not want to keep marijuana unregulated.  On the contrary, marijuana is already regulated by federal law."

The one thing that everyone on the "pro" side of this debate will not talk about is the fact that marijuana is already in the most highly regulated class of narcotics that we have in this country, Smith said.  "The reason for such tight control is that, as Mr.  Muse states, it is not completely safe for everyone including children and adolescents."

I agree that drugs like this or any drugs for that matter are not toys for recreation.  "Drugs are the tools of our trade for therapeutic problems that may not be solved by other means," Smith wrote.  "The county passed this resolution to let their community know that they want to create a safe place for our kids and grandkids to grow up in."

He added that we owe it to our children to teach them all about the truth and dangers of marijuana and alcohol addiction.

The supervisors have taken the lead, and thankfully the Prescott, Prescott Valley and Chino Valley councils have followed their lead in saying "no" to legalizing marijuana.

"I applaud them for it, as it is a very unpopular position to maintain when faced with all the popular yet uninformed public opinion before them.  Freedom of choice at the expense of our future? Not a wise decision in my opinion," Smith said.

A related and bigger, unwise decision came after Colorado legalized personal possession of marijuana.  Attorney General Eric Holder said the feds would respect that.  Why then did the federal government raid pot clubs in California years ago?

The federal government cherry-picks which laws it will enforce.  Those are choices I do not agree with.

* PUBLIC - "The problem with our public schools is that students perform poorly on tests compared to most states.  How does privatizing schools to charters that on average produce the same results and abandoning the Common Core standards that 45 states use help solve this problem?" Prescott resident Perry Wien wrote last week.

"It seems to me that our lack of spending on education is what puts Arizona in the bottom tier of states in the performance of our children on tests," Wien added.

It all depends on where you're standing, I figure.

We had great educational experiences with one charter school, and our daughter had a not-so-great time at another.  The district schools picked up from there and she now is a college graduate.

Are all schools created equally? Absolutely not - and neither are lawmakers who impose "standards" or those who spend millions implementing them.

Still, those same lawmakers - or those I know - work tirelessly for what they believe is the best for this state.  They take victories and defeats in stride, and sometimes sponsor bills that get only part of the job done because small victories equal progress over time.

Remember, though, spending at the state level is a different concept than spending at the district level; one controls the other.

And, spending rankings are altogether different than performance rankings; we rank low when it comes to spending and are in the middle of the pack on performance.

Big difference.