Editor, Times-Union: I would like to applaud Mr. Kolbe for his letter about marijuana. Fear and propaganda have fueled feelings and laws for too long against this plant. The argument always goes back and forth and I always end up hearing that it is a “gateway drug.” I have smoked marijuana for more than 15 years, starting as a teenager. And I can tell you that saying marijuana leads to cocaine is like saying caffeine leads to alcohol, it’s just ridiculous.
There are a lot of people that smoke marijuana in our community. Most of them are not drug addicts or criminals. They are business owners, lawyers, doctors, factory workers, waiters, cooks, you would be surprised. They are good, hardworking people that just like to relax and enjoy life as much as possible. It’s the law not what we do that turns us into criminals.
Meth and opiates have destroyed countless lives in our community and the problem grows every day. Of all the time and money spent on investigating, arresting and prosecuting nonviolent marijuana use and posession, how much if a difference do you think it has made? I can tell you firsthand that it has made no difference at all. And truthfully marijuana use has gone up, just in the past 10 years. Why would you defend and support something that we can all see does not work? That is, well, insane.
I hope I see marijuana legalized sometime in my lifetime. But I know it is not going to happen overnight. May I make a suggestion to the powers that be. Federal law prohibits a state making marijuana legal. But it does not prohibit how aggressive that state persues certain punishments. What if the mayor, police officers, prosecutors and judges just decided not to arrest or prosecute nonviolent marijuana offenders? How’s this for crazy? But what if responsible adults made an intelligent and conscious decision to not waste their time or our money on prosecuting people that possess or use a harmless plant. Wouldn’t it be great to live in a place where people respected someone’s decision on what to do in their own homes or what to put in their bodies? I know, insane, huh?
Mr. Kolbe, there are going to be a lot of people that disagree with us, but I bet there are just as many if not more that do agree. It’s time to speak up.
Jason Bell, Pierceton (Currently in Westville Facility)
