Regarding “Who says marijuana is good medicine?” op-ed of Aug. 18:
If dialogue denouncing legitimacy is to be taken as anything beyond obstructive rants, Alex J. Romero might want to reconsider, for starters, how he contextualizes cannabis.
Calling cannabis “marijuana” demonstrates an overt bias against this beneficial medicinal plant; by extension, the term “marijuana” is a derogatory slur against those who use it.
In Romero’s case, as co-founder of Arizonans for Drug Free Youth and Communities, a board member of Drug Watch International, and on the community outreach committee of KeepAZDrugFree.com, his affiliations denote his position in advance; meaningful discourse
is not in the cards. Nor is Romero likely to jeopardize his livelihood by deviating from his talking point. Drug Free (zero tolerance) is not a position meant to encourage dialogue; it’s a “my way or the highway” approach required by funding agencies.
In essence, Romero, is paid to be disingenuous. Contrasting “licensed (therefore correct) physicians” (from Arizona) with “a handful of doctors getting rich” (in other states with similar laws) implies unscrupulous doctors and dishonest patients collusions.
True to form, Romero convolutes the issue by mixing half truths, outlandish hyperbole and spin, all conveniently parsed so that the fundamental issues surrounding the ad hoc prohibition of cannabis isn’t even mentioned.
Wayne Phiilips, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
—
Letters policy: Click here to submit a letter. Please be brief (no more than 300 words) and type or print name, address, city and phone number for verification. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
jway86 posted at 1:05 pm on Mon, Aug 30, 2010.
$113 billion is spent on marijuana every year in the U.S., and because of the prohibition *every* dollar of it goes straight into the hands of criminals. Far from preventing people from using marijuana, the prohibition instead creates zero legal supply amid massive and unrelenting demand.
According to the ONDCP, two-thirds of the Mexican drug cartel's money comes from selling marijuana in the U.S., and they protect this cash flow by brutally torturing, murdering and dismembering thousands of innocent people.
If we can STOP people using marijuana then we need to do so now, but if we can't then we need to legalize the production and sale of marijuana to adults with after-tax prices set too low for the cartels to match. One way or the other, we have to force the cartels out of the marijuana market and eliminate their highly lucrative marijuana incomes - no business can withstand the loss of two-thirds of its revenue!
To date, the cartels have amassed more than 100,000 "foot soldiers" and operate in 230 U.S. cities, and the longer they're able to exploit the prohibition the more powerful they'll get and the more our own personal security is put in jeopardy.