Pubdate: Mon, 22 Aug 2011
Source: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)
Copyright: 2011 The Daily Herald Company
Contact:  http://www.dailyherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/107
Author: Dan Linn

CONSIDER THE BENEFITS OF LEGAL CANNABIS

My heart goes out to the family of the young man who died after his
car crashed when he was under the influence of a synthetic substance,
but your editorial missed an opportunity to highlight the main reason
these substances are on the market to begin with. If cannabis were
legal there would be a smaller market for these synthetic substances
because currently alcohol is basically the only intoxicating substance
that is legal.

I enjoy reading the Daily Herald but sometimes it baffles me how an
editorial can call for more regulation while applauding efforts to
make something illegal. Banning a substance doesn't increase the
regulations on it, it takes away all government regulations by
creating an illegal underground market where distributors and
consumers are criminals and have no methods for purity evaluations, no
mechanisms for dispute resolutions -- and people don't call 911 for
help because it is illegal.

Cannabis is very safe, a DEA law judge ruled that; 16 states allow
doctors to recommend cannabis and there has not been one overdose
fatality ever. It is a plant that has been stigmatized through
propaganda by our government in an effort to keep the war on drugs
chugging along, at the same time our freedoms and liberties are being
eroded. How does it make sense that in a "free" country like America
people cannot grow this plant on their property if they want?

The war on drugs is dangerous for many reasons, but one is that it
lumps all drugs together as bad due to their illegality, and once
people experiment, usually with cannabis, they realize that cannabis
is not the evil weed they were told and then they don't head warnings
on the truly dangerous substances.

Dan Linn

Chicago
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.