Legalize Marijuana in State

The following is a letter I penned last week in response to the new survey by the Association of counties.

Newshawk: Loretta Nall
Source: The Mobile Register
URL: URL
Pub Date: July 26, 2005
Author: Loretta Nall

Let's legalize marijuana in state

A new survey conducted by the National Association of Counties polled law enforcement agencies in 500 counties in 45 states. Fifty-eight percent of those agencies ranked methamphetamine as their worst illegal-drug problem.

If a majority of local law enforcement officials say methamphetamine is the biggest illegal drug problem they face, why is the national drug-use prevention effort focused most on marijuana, one might ask? The reason is job security.

Back in the 1990s, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Office of National Drug Control Policy got failing grades by the General Accounting Office because they were unable to show that they were accomplishing anything. The White House set a new goal for the ONDCP: reducing (by specific percentages) the number of illegal drug users in the United States.

Since there are more marijuana users than users of all other illicit drugs combined, the ONDCP focused their resources on pot smokers in order to inflate their numbers and keep their $11 billion annual budget intact.

Maybe it is time for states to craft their own drug policies. Let's lead the way in Alabama by taxing, regulating and controlling marijuana so that our cops will be able to focus their very limited resources on real problems.

LORETTA NALL

Alabama Marijuana Party

Montgomery