Pubdate: Tue, 23 May 2006
Source: Anchorage Daily News (AK)
Copyright: 2006 The Anchorage Daily News
Contact:  http://www.adn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/18
Author: Tim Coahran
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

IF POT IS GOING TO BE OUTLAWED, WHY NOT MORE DESTRUCTIVE ALCOHOL?

Congratulations Alaska, you just took a giant step backward toward 
becoming indistinguishable from the Lower 48. Alaskans used to value 
highly our individual liberties and privacy (and still like to talk 
about being independent). Nothing symbolized -- and verified -- this 
better than our former break with Lower 48 tradition regarding 
marijuana laws. The true test of freedom lies in allowing it for the 
other guy, not in demanding it for yourself.

Traditional marijuana laws do not work Outside and probably won't 
work here. They are costly to taxpayers, introduce our kids to the 
corrections system, and should be made similar to current alcohol 
laws. Keep pot off the roads, and out of the workplace. Remember that 
Prohibition of the 1920s created a black market so lucrative that it 
placed Al Capone in power (and many died in the process).

Comparing modern high-potency marijuana with the old regular kind is 
like comparing whiskey with beer. The users still adjust their volume 
of consumption to get the drug dosage they want.

If our Legislature considers itself a knight in shining armor for 
defending us from a mundane drug that turns people into couch 
potatoes, then perhaps it should address the tougher challenge of the 
more popular drugs that are daily killing both users and non-users 
alike: alcohol and nicotine.

- ---- Tim Coahran

Anchorage
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman