To the editor: District Attorney Charles Branson said in an article on Sept. 7, that the real problem with selling marijuana in Lawrence is the armed invasion of the homes of people who sell marijuana. He said that in the last two years there have been 25 drug-related home invasions, and if you go back five years, three deaths occurred in these robberies. Of course this is worrisome, but the root cause of these crimes is the prohibition of marijuana, not marijuana use itself. As a law enforcement official, violent crime is bound to be the district attorney's focus, but a look at the prohibition of alcohol shows that the social costs of prohibition far outweigh the costs of legalization. The armed robberies of bootleggers and speakeasys are things of the past precisely because the prohibition of alcohol was repealed. [continues 60 words]
To the editor: Thanks for the article (Sept. 8) on our district attorney's attitude towards marijuana crimes. His acknowledgement that the black market (prohibition) creates potential danger for marijuana sellers is spot on, but his assertion that sellers are targeted by law enforcement for their own protection seems a bit off the mark - unless those his office has sent to prison are thanking Charles Branson for keeping them safe. Unlikely. Maybe one contributing factor to the potential danger for sellers is how armed home invaders fare in court - sometimes getting plea agreements resulting in probation. In one high-profile case, the defendant received probation, a waiver from the requirement to register as a violent offender, and a record that omitted the fact that a gun was used in the commission of the crime. That sends a stern message to would-be armed robbers! [continues 154 words]
For decades a vast, uncontrolled experiment has been conducted across America. Cannabis -- or "marijuana" -- has been used for thousands of years as a medicine and sacrament. Colonial American landholders were required to grow it, mainly for its fiber, used in cordage for sailing ships. George Washington took it to ease his gout, and Queen Victoria relieved her menstrual cramps with it. Listed in the official U.S. Pharmacopeia, cannabis was available over-the-counter in neighborhood pharmacies. No epidemic madness resulted. [continues 870 words]
Like it or not, legal marijuana is heading our way with its associated problems. Several pro-marijuana bills have been introduced in the Missouri Legislature. Colorado has experienced more use among school kids, even using in school, a 100 percent increase in marijuana-related traffic fatalities, increased gang activity, pediatric marijuana poisonings and difficulty finding workers who can pass drug testing requirements. Now that Colorado has legalized it, pot from Colorado is clearly moving into Kansas. Where is the Food and Drug Administration while Colorado has become the Wild West related to pot-containing food and drugs? [continues 214 words]
Part of the reason our federal government continues to treat marijuana like Kryptonite is the hiring criteria for federal jobs. Ignorance is a prerequisite for employment. The emphasis on "drug-free" backgrounds ensures that those least knowledgeable about the effects and use of illegal drugs are charged with enforcing federal laws against them. Anyone who has actually smoked marijuana knows the plant is not nearly as dangerous (or exciting) as federal propaganda suggests. The days when bureaucrats could get away with confusing the drug war's collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant are over. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize drug cartels, prohibition is a success. The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. If the goal is to deter use, marijuana prohibition is a failure. The United States has almost double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal. [continues 59 words]
James "420 Jim" Stevens collected signatures on paper and on his motorhome during his trip to Washington through small town America. It came to him in a dream, like Martin Luther King had a dream, inspiring him to crisscross small towns across the country on his way to Washington, James "420 Jim" Stevens said in front of his rolling petition for federal marijuana legalization. Stevens parked his motorhome colorfully decorated in five-fingered cannabis leaves in front of the Boot Hill Museum and collected signatures and explained his one-man, one-dog trek through America. [continues 885 words]
People who try to stay abreast of the federal government's displays of wasteful spending and lack of judgment might want to take note of a pending trial in Spokane, Wash. Federal prosecutors there are seeking mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years each for a 70-year-old medical marijuana patient with no criminal history, three of his relatives and a family friend caught growing marijuana on some rural, mountainous property owned by the family. Washington has legalized medical marijuana and is moving forward with plans to license people to grow and sell recreational marijuana to adults. However, growing marijuana anywhere in the United States still is a violation of federal law. [continues 306 words]
The arrest of Joaquin Guzman, leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, was described by Attorney General Eric Holder as a landmark achievement. Early in the "War on Drugs," spectacular arrests and sensational drug seizures were followed by pronouncements from law enforcement officials that communities were now safer with fewer drugs on the street. The purpose of those pronouncements was to provide validation for the war on drugs. There have been no such assessments following the arrest of Guzman. The arrest will not impact the availability of drugs on the street. [continues 180 words]
Legalize pot. Tax it, get it out in the open and get some control over it. Stop using it as a means to incarcerate poor, often minority, young in order to fill the pockets of the privately owned penal system. Pot doesn't kill, alcohol does, through intoxicated, often enraged, drivers on our highways. Pot doesn't kill, nicotine does, through cancer and heart patients who swell our hospitals and overwhelm our health system. Pot does tend to make the user laid back and somewhat lazy, but I'll take that any day over an erratic drunk or a smoke snorting nicotine addict. Legalize pot. - - Beth Vannatta, Halstead. [end]
It's commendable to keep cannabis (marijuana) away from youth (Legal or not, marijuana use remains a 'rocky' road, March 9, 2014); however, caging responsible adults who use the plant is the wrong way to do it. A sane or moral argument to continue the discredited prohibition of cannabis doesn't exist. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
Let Colorado have legal pot. Kansas can sit back and watch how this experiment goes and wait for more science on the health and societal impact of marijuana use. I attended a public awareness meeting about marijuana in Hutchinson on Tuesday night. Even though The Hutchinson News was a sponsor, I thought I might confirm my past support for legalizing pot. It must have been an effective program, as I walked away instead in support of the people who are fighting pot usage, especially at the youth level. I have too much respect for those people to marginalize pot. Downplaying the effects of pot is exactly why it is a problem with our youth and in our schools. [continues 630 words]
To the editor: I found the Jan. 27 editorial on medical marijuana well-intentioned but inadequately researched. I urge you and your readers to review the article posted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN at http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/08/health/gupta-changed-mind-marijuana/ and some of the associated links. Like you, Dr. Gupta initially was opposed to the use of medical marijuana. However, he completed in-depth research on the subject. He now believes that, in certain instances, medical marijuana offers the only hope to individuals who suffer from certain specific and intractable conditions, such as epilepsy, that have not responded to established treatments. [continues 128 words]
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