SentLTE-Digest Monday, November 30 2009 Volume 09 : Number 073
001 LTE: Geo. Will's 'A Dubious Medical High' in Herald Trib
From: John Chase <>
002 LTE: Geo. Will's column 'Legal 'Medical' Pot A Dangerous Fa
From: John Chase <>
003 LTE: George Will's column 'A Dubious Medical High'
From: John Chase <>
004 LTE: Re: 'Rocky Mountain medical high'
From: Kirk Muse <>
005 LTE: Re: 'THREE TONS OF POT SEIZED AT BORDER'
From: Kirk Muse <>
006 LTE: Sent to Telegraph Herald in IA
From: Kirk Muse <>
007 LTE: Re: 'Washington State should decriminalize marijuana'
From: Kirk Muse <>
008 LTE: Re: 'Pot: make it legal'
From: Kirk Muse <>
009 LTE: 'Losing Rachel'
From: John Chase <>
010 LTE: Re: 'Sheriff donates DARE Bronco to Wilcox'
From: Kirk Muse <>
011 LTE: 'Rocky Mountain Medical High'
From: John Chase <>
012 LTE: George Will's column 'Colorado's Rocky Mountain High'
From: John Chase <>
013 LTE: 'Change in pot policy is destroying law's dignity'
From: John Chase <>
014 LTE: 'Rocky Mountain High'
From: John Chase <>
015 LTE: 'Marijuana 'Customers,' Not Patients'
From: John Chase <>
016 LTE: George Will's column 'Rocky Mountain Medical High'
From: John Chase <>
017 LTE: 'Are Medical Marijuana's Customers Really Sick?'
From: John Chase <>
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Subj: 001 LTE: Geo. Will's 'A Dubious Medical High' in Herald Trib
From: John Chase <>
Date: Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:58:07 -0800
Sent online to Sarasota's Herald Tribune
http://www.heraldtribune.com/section/opinion04
Colorado's attorney general worries about "institutionalizing hypocrisy"
by promoting medical marijuana for what he says is non-medical use. He's
a bit late.
Hypocrisy's institutionalization began when Nixon's Chief of Staff,
H.R.Haldeman, wrote in his 1969 diary "...[President Nixon] emphasized
that you have to face the fact that the whole problem is really the
Blacks. The key is to devise a system that recognized this while not
appearing to." It continued when the DEA said marijuana is illegal
because it has not been found to have medical value, even while blocking
any such research. It will continue as long as legislators write laws
making marijuana a crime unless it's not, and then expect police to
decide which. Humpty Dumpty said a word "means just what I choose it to
mean – neither more nor less." This silliness has gone on too long. It
will end when we put marijuana on the same legal plane as beer, not before.
John Chase
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Subj: 002 LTE: Geo. Will's column 'Legal 'Medical' Pot A Dangerous Fa
From: John Chase <>
Date: Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:45:45 -0800
Editors -
Re: Geo. Will's column "Legal 'Medical' Pot A Dangerous Farce"
Yes, it's a farce, but not a dangerous farce. Unlike beer, no one dies
of a marijuana overdose. Some say it is a 'gateway' to harder drugs, but
is beer is a gateway to 200 proof alcohol? Some say it will increase
crime, but the murder rate declined sharply after alcohol prohibition
ended in 1933. Marijuana prohibition sits on a foundation of sand.
Our lawmakers have painted themselves into a corner trying to get relief
to certifiably sick patients, but ignoring human nature. No statute, for
instance, can make $300 marijuana "non profit", or tell police whether a
smoker has a medical reason to smoke.
End the farce. Put marijuana on the same legal plane as beer. It's time.
John Chase
727 787 3085
1620 E Dorchester Dr
Palm Harbor, FL 34684
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Subj: 003 LTE: George Will's column 'A Dubious Medical High'
From: John Chase <>
Date: Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:34:17 -0800
Sent online to Sa `qtasota's Herald-Tribune
Re: George Will's column "A Dubious Medical High"
Colorado's attorney general worries about "institutionalizing hypocrisy"
by promoting medical marijuana for what he says is non-medical use. He's
a bit late.
Hypocrisy's institutionalization began when Nixon's Chief of Staff,
H.R.Haldeman, wrote in his 1969 diary "...[President Nixon] emphasized
that you have to face the fact that the whole problem is really the
Blacks. The key is to devise a system that recognized this while not
appearing to." It continued when the DEA said marijuana is illegal
because it has not been found to have medical value, even while blocking
any such research. It will continue as long as legislators write laws
making marijuana a crime unless it's not, and then expect police to
decide which. Humpty Dumpty said a word "means just what I choose it to
mean – neither more nor less." This silliness has gone on too long. It
will end when we put marijuana on the same legal plane as beer, not before.
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Subj: 004 LTE: Re: 'Rocky Mountain medical high'
From: Kirk Muse <>
Date: Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:47:39 -0800
To the Editor of The Abilene Reporter:
I'm writing about George Will's not-so-thoughtful
column: "Rocky Mountain medical high" (11-29-09).
Most plants are good plants. I believe that some plants
such as Poison Ivy and Poison Oak are bad plants.
Millions of people believe that marijuana is a good plant.
Others believe it's a bad plant. My question is: Should people who use
or grow what other people believe to be a bad plant, be arrested and
jailed for doing so?
Kirk Muse
1741 S. Clearview Ave.
Mesa, AZ 85209
(480) 396-3399
Thank you for considering this letter for publication.
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Subj: 005 LTE: Re: 'THREE TONS OF POT SEIZED AT BORDER'
From: Kirk Muse <>
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:01:30 -0800
To the Editor of The San Diego Union Tribune:
Re: "THREE TONS OF POT SEIZED AT BORDER"
(11-29-09).
The marijuana traffickers arrested will soon be replaced.
They always are. As long as there are buyers willing
to pay a substantial price for it, somebody will produce it
and somebody else will get it to the willing buyers.
This we can guarantee.
Why not re-legalize marijuana so it can be sold in licensed,
regulated and taxed business establishments? Pot is
substantially less dangerous than either tobacco that
contains nicotine, or alcohol.
People consume marijuana for the same reasons they
consume alcohol. Why not offer adults the much safer
alternative to alcohol?
Kirk Muse
1741 S. Clearview Ave.
Mesa, AZ 85209
(480) 396-3399
Thank you for considering this letter for publication.
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Subj: 006 LTE: Sent to Telegraph Herald in IA
From: Kirk Muse <>
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:35:22 -0800
I'm writing about George Will's column: "Pot basically legal in 13
states." I submit that pot should be fully legal in all 50 states.
Why not re-legalize marijuana so it can be sold in licensed, regulated
and taxed business establishments? Pot is substantially less dangerous
than either tobacco that contains nicotine, or alcohol.
People consume marijuana for the same reasons they consume alcohol. Why
not offer adults the much safer alternative to alcohol?
Kirk Muse
Mesa, AZ
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Subj: 007 LTE: Re: 'Washington State should decriminalize marijuana'
From: Kirk Muse <>
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:58:32 -0800
To the Editor of The Kirkland Reporter:
I'm writing about the thoughtful oped: "Washington State should
decriminalize marijuana" (11-25-09).
I say it's high time to fully legalize pot. Not just remove the
penalties for its use or possession. Only fully legal products of any
kind can be regulated, taxed and controlled by any government agency.
Speaking of taxing pot, it seems to me that non-marijuana users would be
in favor of taxing pot. Around these parts, taxing someone else's vice
is very popular.
Kirk Muse
1741 S. Clearview Ave.
Mesa, AZ 85209
(480) 396-3399
Thank you for considering this letter for publication.
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Subj: 008 LTE: Re: 'Pot: make it legal'
From: Kirk Muse <>
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:04:28 -0800
To the Editor of The Sunday Gazette-Mail:
I'm writing about your outstanding editorial: "Pot: Make it legal"
(11-30-09).
Marijuana is the foundation of our so-called war on drugs. Remove
marijuana from the equation and the whole drug war will collapse.
The so-called war on drugs is a huge industry and huge bureaucracy.
Victory in the drug war is not possible, nor is it the goal. Victory
in the drug war would mean that the drug war industry and bureaucracy
are out of business.
There are basically two kinds of people who support the so-called war on
drugs:
Those who make their livelihood from it. This includes politicians and
bureaucrats who are probably on the payroll of the drug cartels. Al
Capone had hundreds of politicians and prohibition officials on his
payroll.
Idiots - taxpayers who have bought into the lies and propaganda of the
drug-war industry and bureaucracy.
Idiots - who are willing to deny liberty and freedom to others but
think that their own liberty and freedom will never be in jeopardy.
Idiots - who believe that criminalizing a substance will make it go
away. Idiots - who think that drug prohibition somehow protects children.
Idiots - who think that giving criminals control of dangerous drugs
somehow protects children and our society.
Idiots - who think that they live in a free country even thought the
United States is the most incarcerated nation in the history of human
civilization.
Kirk Muse
1741 S. Clearview Ave.
Mesa, AZ 85209
(480) 396-3399
Thank you for considering this letter for publication.
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Subj: 009 LTE: 'Losing Rachel'
From: John Chase <>
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:54:41 -0800
Sent online to Tampa Trib
Your story "Losing Rachel" breaks my heart. The police, not just in
Florida, pressure arrestees to try to clear their record by entrapping
others. It is dangerous, even when it works, because the person trapped
is often violent and wants revenge. For obvious reasons, the police
don't like to do it themselves. Rachel's father is a saint for working
to change Florida law to protect young people he will never meet.
But the long-term effect will be to extend the life of pot prohibition
by tamping down public outrage at its abuses. At some point we must ask
ourselves if prohibition is good public policy. My parents were faced
with the same question about alcohol prohibition in the early 1930s,
just before their legislators voted for repeal. And in 75 years there
has not been a single serious proposal to go back.
John Chase
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Subj: 010 LTE: Re: 'Sheriff donates DARE Bronco to Wilcox'
From: Kirk Muse <>
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:29:07 -0800
To the Editor of The Eastern Arizona Courier:
I'm writing about: "Sheriff donates DARE Bronco to
Wilcox" (11-29-09).
Common sense tells us that the DARE program should deter
our youth from using illegal drugs. But it doesn't. DARE
graduates are more likely to use illegal drugs--not less.
Common sense tells us that the Earth is the center of the
universe and our solar system. But it's not.
Common sense tells us that prohibiting a product should
substantially reduce the use of the product that's prohibited.
Actually, prohibition tends to substantially increase the desire
for the product that's prohibited.
Before marijuana was criminalized in the U. S. via the Marijuana
Tax Act of 1937, the vast majority of Americans had never
heard of marijuana. Now everybody in the U. S. knows what
marijuana is and the U. S. government estimates that at least
100 million Americans have used it. About half of all high
school students will use marijuana before they graduate.
People want what they are told they cannot have--especially
children. The lure of the "forbidden fruit" is very powerful.
Kirk Muse
1741 S. Clearview Ave.
Mesa, AZ 85209
(480) 396-3399
Thank you for considering this letter for publication.
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Subj: 011 LTE: 'Rocky Mountain Medical High'
From: John Chase <>
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:49:48 -0800
Editors -
Re: George Wills column "Rocky Mountain Medical High"
George Will sees medical pot as a slippery slope: give an inch, they
take a mile; pot is a 'gateway' to harder drugs, etc. If true it is
because buying pot on the street puts the buyer in touch with criminals
who make more money selling hard drugs. But I reject the premise.
Many millions of drinkers, for instance, drink beer, but don't like
mixed drinks, and will never try 200 proof alcohol. Perhaps it's because
they buy beer in a store and not on the street.
End this failed public policy. Give pot the same legal status as beer.
John Chase
727 787 3085
1620 E Dorchester Dr
Palm Harbor, FL 34684
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Subj: 012 LTE: George Will's column 'Colorado's Rocky Mountain High'
From: John Chase <>
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:56:58 -0800
Re: George Will's column "Colorado's Rocky Mountain High"
Editors -
Our lawmakers have painted themselves into a corner trying to get relief
to certifiably sick patients, but ignoring human nature. No statute, for
instance, can make $300 marijuana "non profit", or tell police whether a
smoker has a medical reason to smoke.
It's high time to put marijuana on the same legal plane as beer.
John Chase
727 787 3085
1620 E Dorchester Dr
Palm Harbor, FL 34684
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Subj: 013 LTE: 'Change in pot policy is destroying law's dignity'
From: John Chase <>
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:16:44 -0800
Letter to Palladium-Item (IN)
Re: George Will's column "Change in pot policy is destroying law's dignity"
He is right that "...by mocking the idea of lawful behavior,
legalization of medical marijuana may be more socially destructive than
full legalization." My parents' generation saw it happen during National
Prohibition with so-called "medicinal alcohol". A law that criminalizes
a popular behavior causes more societal damage than it prevents. It is
time to acknowledge a mistake. Our experiment trying to stamp out pot
has failed. Give pot the same legal standing as beer. Sooner not later.
John Chase
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Subj: 014 LTE: 'Rocky Mountain High'
From: John Chase <>
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:33:05 -0800
Re: George Will's column: "Rocky Mountain High"
Editors -
We should have seen it coming. Medicinal alcohol was big in the 1920s,
and got bigger in the early 1930s, when penalties for bootlegging
escalated sharply trying to make National Prohibition work.
Our lawmakers painted themselves into a corner trying to get relief to
certifiably sick patients, but they ignored human nature. They wanted to
believe we could get the patients out of the drug war. But good
intentions are not enough. No statute, for instance, can make $300
marijuana "non profit", or tell police whether a smoker has a medical
reason to smoke.
It's high time to put marijuana on the same legal plane as beer.
John Chase
727 787 3085
1620 E Dorchester Dr
Palm Harbor, FL 34684
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Subj: 015 LTE: 'Marijuana 'Customers,' Not Patients'
From: John Chase <>
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:51:51 -0800
Re: George Will's column "Marijuana 'Customers,' Not Patients"
Editors -
Our lawmakers have painted themselves into a corner trying to get relief
to certifiably sick patients, but they ignored human nature.
No statute, for instance, can make $300 marijuana "non profit", or tell
police whether a smoker has a medical reason to smoke.
Marijuana needs the same legal status as beer, but without the ads.
John Chase
727 787 3085
1620 E Dorchester Dr
Palm Harbor, FL 34684
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Subj: 016 LTE: George Will's column 'Rocky Mountain Medical High'
From: John Chase <>
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:54:55 -0800
Re: George Will's column "Rocky Mountain Medical High"
Editors - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
We should have seen it coming. This is how alcohol prohibition ended in
1933. Medicinal alcohol use expanded during the 1920s, especially as the
1932 election approached. The Hoover Administration had committed to
enforcing an unenforceable, unpopular law.
Our lawmakers today have painted have themselves into a corner trying to
get relief to certifiably sick patients, but good intentions are not
enough. No statute, for instance, can tell police whether a smoker has a
medical reason to smoke, especially when the prescribing doctors know
pot has never caused a death that might come back as a lawsuit.
It's past time to put marijuana on the same legal plane as beer.
John Chase
727 787 3085
1620 E Dorchester Dr
Palm Harbor, FL 34684
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Subj: 017 LTE: 'Are Medical Marijuana's Customers Really Sick?'
From: John Chase <>
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:49:24 -0800
Letter sent online to the Dayton Daily News
Re: George Wills column "Are Medical Marijuana's Customers Really Sick?"
Your headline asks a good question. The answer is that many are but some
are not, if history is a guide. Medicinal alcohol use expanded during
the 1920s, especially after the 1929 Jones Act escalated penalties
against bootleggers. I doubt that sickness increased suddenly in 1929.
Prescribing doctors today know that pot has never caused a death and
won't come back to bite them as a lawsuit. So they can be forgiven if
they prescribe to people some prosecutors won't think are "sick". It
would be a mistake for prosecutors to play doctor, but I expect some of
them to try.
Medical marijuana law is chaos, and won't help patients much. The best
way to do that is to put marijuana on the same legal plane as beer.
John Chase
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End of SentLTE-Digest V09 #73
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