Pubdate: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 Source: Hawaii Tribune Herald (Hilo, HI) Copyright: 2008 Hawaii Tribune Herald Contact: http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/185 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n971/a05.html Author: Bob Wahler WORSE THAN POT Ray Gagner ("County pot initiative is bad idea," Oct. 22, Tribune-Herald) should perhaps address a real problem, not a trumped up one. He says: "Any 'legal' product that sent 30,000 people to the hospital each year would be taken off the market in a heartbeat." Oh, really? According to http://drugwarfacts.org, 435,000 Americans a year DIE from LEGAL cigarettes, and 85,000 from LEGAL alcohol products, including thousands of innocent NONUSERS. How much should we spend on marijuana, which killed zero, compared to these? Maybe zero. Then we tax the others for ALL expenses, including fire-fighting, law enforcement, courts, rehab, health care and abuse counseling. Bob Wahler Pepeekeo - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake