Pubdate: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 Source: Sacramento Bee (CA) Copyright: 1999 The Sacramento Bee Contact: P.O.Box 15779, Sacramento, CA 95852 Feedback: http://www.sacbee.com/about_us/sacbeemail.html Website: http://www.sacbee.com/ Forum: http://www.sacbee.com/voices/voices_forum.html Author: Joe Lev, Richard Tobias, Jay Bergstrom, Stephen Konnoff, Doug Alliston CRIME-FIGHTING PRIORITIES Re "Pot seizure brings insurance reimbursement," Sept. 3: It's a pleasant surprise that his insurer compensated 71-year-old Robert DeArkland after armed men broke in and took the marijuana he used to treat his arthritis and prostate cancer. Unfortunately, what happened to DeArkland should be surprising but it isn't. The people who broke down his door were Sacramento and Placer county sheriffs' deputies. Apparently it's easier to harass old men who aren't bothering anyone than to deal with dangerous criminals. Doug Alliston, Fair Oaks ~~~~~ The arrest of DeArkland for lawfully growing medicinal marijuana clearly demonstrates the contempt of the Sacramento and Placer sheriffs for the will of the people, who overwhelmingly supported the medical marijuana initiative, Proposition 215. The terrorist sheriff-bureaucrats who tormented this ailing old man ignored not only DeArkland's legal rights, but also their sworn duty to conform to all laws -- even those they dislike. Like punks who prey on the elderly and infirm, the despicable conduct of these deputies was so onerous and immoral that mere verbal condemnation is woefully inadequate. Every "officer" should be fired and forever banished from employment as law enforcement officers. Their malevolence is not only disgraceful, but a threat to the rule of law and the ideals of American democracy. Stephen Konnoff, Sacramento ~~~~~ Re "The campaign to weed out growers," Sept. 13: Surely the press in Germany ran similar articles during the prosecution of Germany's "final solution." See our brave warriors annihilating our evil enemies. "In all, 307 plants were confiscated, bundled up with the growers' equipment and helicoptered off the hillside. Later, Garcia took the plants to a garbage hauler to be mulched and mixed with garbage headed for a landfill." While at it, toss in a couple more bales of our tax money for manpower costs, fuel and chopper parts wasted on a pile of herbs. More than just following orders, they are necessarily true believers in their mission. Schools full of snitches, cafes and bars full of narks, children ratting off their parents. How many more suspected American dope fiends will end up dead prior to the conclusion of our Legislature's timidly proposed three-year study? Jay Bergstrom, Sacramento ~~~~~ Re "A journey to a really far out cosmos," Names & Faces, Aug. 23: Now we know that one of the greatest minds of our time, Carl Sagan, smoked marijuana for "inspiring essays and insight." We also know that tincture of marijuana was a widely used drug manufactured by Parke-Davis until it was prohibited by federal law in the 1930s. In their collective wisdom, informed California voters have chosen to accept marijuana for its known medical properties. So, will someone please explain, using statistics and generally accepted scientific methodology, why marijuana is a dangerous substance that warrants imprisonment? Richard Tobias, West Sacramento ~~~~~ Cannabis (marijuana is a Mexican slang term adopted by the government in the 1930s to associate cannabis with negative stereotypes of Hispanic immigrants) has a history of thousands of years use as a medicinal herb, a religious sacrament and, yes, as a recreational drug. Looked at unemotionally, cannabis has much less physiological impact than coffee, tobacco or alcohol. The worst side-effects are arrest and incarceration. Regardless of one's personal choices on these matters, the fact remains that the legitimate cannabis users -- cancer patients, AIDS patients, people with glaucoma, etc. -- want legal access to something that experience has proven gives them relief. Who are we to deny them this? Joe Lev, Sacramento - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake