SentLTE-Digest Thursday, December 17 2009 Volume 09 : Number 078
001 LTE: Re: 'DARE on hold, but does it matter'
From: Kirk Muse <>
002 LTE: 'Guilty Plea By Ex-ICE Agent Shocks Many'
From: John Chase <>
003 LTE: 'Study Says Teens Smoking More Pot, Less Tobacco' 15 Dec
From: John Chase <>
004 LTE: Re: 'Doc's, Patients Call'
From: Kirk Muse <>
005 LTE: Californians to Vote to Legalize Marijuana
From: Richard Lake <>
006 LTE: Sent to S F Chronicle
From: Kirk Muse <>
007 LTE: Re: 'Teens see less harm in pot'
From: Kirk Muse <>
008 LTE: Re: 'U. S. ready to revisit anti-drug strategy'
From: Kirk Muse <>
009 LTE: Sent to Times-Delta in Visalia CA
From: Kirk Muse <>
010 LTE: Re: 'Repealing drug prohibition law would reduce crime by half'
From: Kirk Muse <>
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Subj: 001 LTE: Re: 'DARE on hold, but does it matter'
From: Kirk Muse <>
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:11:55 -0800
To the Editor of The Beacon News:
I'm writing about Kristen Ziman's oped: "DARE on hold,
but does it matter" (12-13-09).
Common sense tells us that the DARE program should deter
our youth from using illegal drugs. But it doesn't. DARE
graduates are more likely to use illegal drugs--not less.
Common sense tells us that the Earth is the center of the
universe and our solar system. But it's not.
Common sense tells us that prohibiting a product should
substantially reduce the use of the product that's prohibited.
Actually, prohibition tends to substantially increase the desire
for the product that's prohibited.
Before marijuana was criminalized in the U. S. via the Marijuana
Tax Act of 1937, the vast majority of Americans had never
heard of marijuana. Now everybody in the U. S. knows what
marijuana is and the U. S. government estimates that at least
100 million Americans have used it. About half of all high
school students will use marijuana before they graduate.
People want what they are told they cannot have--especially
children. The lure of the "forbidden fruit" is very powerful.
Kirk Muse
1741 S. Clearview Ave.
Mesa, AZ 85209
(480) 396-3399
Thank you for considering this letter for publication.
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Subj: 002 LTE: 'Guilty Plea By Ex-ICE Agent Shocks Many'
From: John Chase <>
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:05:44 -0800
Sent to the Ariz Republic
Re: Guilty Plea By Ex-ICE Agent Shocks Many
This sad story is not unusual for drug war prosecutions. Federal
prosecutors want convictions -- scalps hanging from their belts -- and
they use the letter of the law to get them.
Federal antidrug law has escalated over three decades, but "drugs" only
get worse. Congress responds by doing the only thing they know: Escalate.
It is time to think outside the box. Try the Swiss drug maintenance
program. In Switzerland, addicts can either take their chances on the
street, or register with the state as an addict and get free counseling,
their drug, and treatment if they ask for it. As a result the street
market has dried up.
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Subj: 003 LTE: 'Study Says Teens Smoking More Pot, Less Tobacco' 15 Dec
From: John Chase <>
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:17:07 -0800
Editors -
Re:"Study Says Teens Smoking More Pot, Less Tobacco", 15 Dec
My take on the study is more optimistic than yours. Two things:
1. Teen pot use climbs even though teens are threatened with arrest;
teen cigarette smoking declines even though teens are NOT threatened
with arrest. Coercion doesn't seem to be working as well as candor.
2. Teen pot use climbs while teen meth use and cocaine use declines.
Perhaps teens are substituting pot for stronger drugs. They are learning
that pot is not the demon drug they thought it was. Candor is working.
Perhaps teens will soon substitute pot for prescription drugs too.
Perhaps we are finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.
John Chase
727 787 3085
1620 E Dorchester Dr
Palm Harbor, FL 34684
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Subj: 004 LTE: Re: 'Doc's, Patients Call'
From: Kirk Muse <>
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:37:38 -0800
To the Editor of The Times-Tribune:
I'm responding the the outstanding letter from Robert Sharpe: "Doc's,
patient's call" (12-13-09).
I'd like to add that one of the medications prescribed by my personal
physician for my arthritis pain and inflammation, has the rare potential
side effect of death. In other words, if I take this medication as
prescribed, I can die as a result.
On the other hand, marijuana has never been documented to kill a single
person in the 5,000 year history of its use.
For me, marijuana is the more effective medication. Right now, if
adult citizens opt for the safer and more effective medication,
they are subject to arrest and being sent to jail with violent criminals.
Is something wrong with this situation? I think so.
Shouldn't adult citizens have the freedom to choose what goes into their
own bodies in the privacy of their own homes?
Kirk Muse
1741 S. Clearview Ave.
Mesa, AZ 85209
(480) 396-3399
Thank you for considering this letter for publication.
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Subj: 005 LTE: Californians to Vote to Legalize Marijuana
From: Richard Lake <>
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:26:34 -0800
CALIFORNIANS TO VOTE TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA
**********************************************************************
DrugSense FOCUS Alert #422 - Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Today newspapers across California are printing articles about the
initiative which will be on the November, 2010 ballot for voters
to consider legalizing marijuana.
Details about the initiative may be found at the initiative website
http://www.taxcannabis.org/
Below is the article about the initiative from the state's largest
circulation newspaper.
The San Francisco Chronicle's article is at
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n1117.a05.html
Additional articles about California and marijuana, now and in the
months ahead, are found at http://www.mapinc.org/find?115
Many may be appropriate targets for your letters to the editor.
**********************************************************************
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Page: A12
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Times
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/bc7El3Yo
Author: John Hoeffel
Cited: The Tax & Regulate Cannabis Initiative http://www.taxcannabis.org/
Cited: California NORML http://www.canorml.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Richard+Lee
MEASURE TO LEGALIZE POT MAY BE ON NOV. BALLOT
California voters could decide whether to legalize marijuana in
November after supporters announced Monday that they have more than
enough signatures to ensure that it qualifies for the ballot.
The petition drive has collected more than 680,000 signatures, said
Richard Lee, the measure's main proponent, about 57% more than the
433,971 needed.
"It was so easy to get them," Lee said. "People were so eager to sign."
The initiative would allow cities and counties to adopt laws to allow
marijuana to be grown and sold, and to impose taxes on marijuana
production and sales. It would make it legal for anyone who is at
least 21 to possess an ounce of marijuana and grow plants in an area
of no more than 25 square feet for personal use.
Steve Smith, a political consultant who has run many California
initiative campaigns, said that as a rule of thumb, supporters assume
that about 30% of the signatures on petitions will be invalidated.
"I'll be very surprised if they don't qualify," he said.
The measure, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act, is one of
four initiatives in circulation to legalize marijuana use, but it is
the only one that appears to have the financial support to make the ballot.
Lee's firm, one of the state's most successful marijuana businesses,
has spent at least $1.1 million so far on the measure. Lee owns half
a dozen businesses in Oakland, including Coffeeshop Blue Sky, a
medical marijuana dispensary, and Oaksterdam University, which
teaches about marijuana.
Lee said he expected that the campaign will cost between $7 million
and $20 million, but he hopes to raise the money from across the country.
"We feel like we've done our part," he said.
Lee has hired consultants to run an Internet-based campaign that he
said already has a mailing list of about 30,000.
In a news release, the campaign announced that it had more than
650,000 signatures, but Lee said that the firm he hired to collect
signatures put the number at more than 680,000. Lee said volunteers
would continue to gather signatures until the campaign turns in the
petition early next year.
Polls have shown support among California voters for legalization. A
Field Poll taken in mid-April found that 56% of voters in the state
and 60% in Los Angeles County want to make pot legal and tax it. A
poll taken for the initiative's proponents in August found that 51%
of likely voters supported it when read language similar to what will
be on the ballot, but that increased to 54% when they were read a
less technical synopsis.
Smith said those numbers suggest proponents face tough odds.
"Generally, you are at your high point when you start," he said. "The
no side just has to come up with one good reason to vote no."
But Smith said that a lot will depend on how much money is spent by
both sides and whether the electorate tilts toward left or right on
election day.
"I think it'll probably be a very close vote," he said.
Law enforcement organizations are likely to oppose the measure, but
several contacted Monday said they had not yet adopted an official position.
Some marijuana advocates have criticized Lee for pushing his measure,
arguing that they would have a better chance in 2012, a presidential
election year when the electorate tends to be more liberal.
"I think things have turned our way so much that we have a good
chance of winning," Lee said. "This is the time to bring up the issue
and talk about it. Who knows what will be going on in 2012."
Dale Gieringer, the director of California NORML, was one of the
skeptics, but he said his pro-legalization organization would endorse
the ballot measure.
"I'd like the initiative to pass," he said, "but I'm not holding my
breath necessarily for this to happen."
Lee said he believes that the increasing acceptance of medical
marijuana has changed the dynamic. He said voters are aware that it
is easy to obtain a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana, but he
said most believe that is "a good thing."
"Medical marijuana in California has been accepted as legalization in
some ways by a lot of the population," he said. "To me this is
codifying what it happening."
**********************************************************************
Prepared by: Richard Lake, Senior Editor www.mapinc.org
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------------------------------
Subj: 006 LTE: Sent to S F Chronicle
From: Kirk Muse <>
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:20:14 -0800
Editor:
It seems to me the ballot question should be: Should marijuana remain
completely
unregulated, untaxed and controlled by criminals? ("Pot advocates claim
signatures for ballot issue" 12-15-09).
Kirk Muse
Mesa, Ariz.
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Subj: 007 LTE: Re: 'Teens see less harm in pot'
From: Kirk Muse <>
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:39:29 -0800
To the Editor of The Norman Transcript:
I'm writing about: "Teens see less harm in pot" (12-16-09).
According to a recent Rasmussen poll 44 percent of adults believe that
pot is just as, or more dangerous, than alcohol. See the weeb site:
http://tinyurl.com/lqmqqz
Until this false belief can be changed, marijuana will probably remain
a criminalized substance. The fact is marijuana is an extremely safe
product. (No reported deaths in the 5,000 year history of its use.)
People consume marijuana for the same reasons they consume
alcohol. Why not offer adults the much safer alternative to alcohol?
Kirk Muse
1741 S. Clearview Ave.
Mesa, AZ 85209
(480) 396-3399
Thank you for considering this letter for publication.
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Subj: 008 LTE: Re: 'U. S. ready to revisit anti-drug strategy'
From: Kirk Muse <>
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:07:41 -0800
To the Editor of The Lawrence Journal-World:
Latin America and Mexico do not have lots of drug-related
crime. They both have lots of drug prohibition created crime.
("U. S. ready to revisit anti-drug strategy" 12-14-09).
Please stop saying and writing about drug-related crime
because the problem is drug prohibition. If and when we
terminate drug prohibition, we will terminate most of the
violent crime in Mexico and the United States.
Kirk Muse
1741 S. Clearview Ave.
Mesa, AZ 85209
(480) 396-3399
Thank you for considering this letter for publication.
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Subj: 009 LTE: Sent to Times-Delta in Visalia CA
From: Kirk Muse <>
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:14:26 -0800
Editor:
If I made my living from the status quo of marijuana prohibition, I might
write an oped claiming that marijuana is dangerous.
The fact is marijuana is an extremely safe substance. (No reported
deaths in the 5,000 year history of its use).
Marijuana does not cause cancer because it does not contain any
nicotine, the prime cancer causing ingredient of tobacco.
Kirk Muse
Mesa, AZ
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Subj: 010 LTE: Re: 'Repealing drug prohibition law would reduce crime by half'
From: Kirk Muse <>
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:39:14 -0800
To the Editor of The Nanaimo News Bulletin:
I'm writing about the thoughtful letter from Howard Wooldridge:
"Repealing drug prohibition law would reduce crime by half"
(12-17-09).
I'd like to add that many judges and prison wardens have said that 70 to
90 percent of all property crime and violent crime is "drug-related."
Actually almost 100 percent of all so-called "drug-related crime" is
caused by drug prohibition policies - not drugs.
When Coca-Cola contained cocaine instead of caffeine and sold for 5
cents a bottle, the term "drug-related crime" didn't exist. Neither did
drug lords, drug cartels or even drug dealers as we know them today.
Many currently employed in law enforcement are opposed to the idea of
re-legalizing all types of recreational drugs. That's because if drugs
were re-legalized, we would need far fewer law enforcement personnel,
far fewer prison guards and no prison builders.
Thus, many now employed in law enforcement and the prison industry would
be looking for a job or washing cars for a living.
Of course, those opposed to re-legalizing drugs because it would affect
their livelihood will not say so. Instead they will cite noble reasons
such as protecting the children.
As if the current policies are protecting children from drugs.
Best regards,
Kirk Muse
1741 S. Clearview Ave.
Mesa, AZ 85209
U. S. A.
(480) 396-3399
Thank you for considering this letter for publication.
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End of SentLTE-Digest V09 #78
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