Pubdate: Sun, 17 Oct 2010
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2010 Jeanette C. Robertson
Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/cgi-bin/lettertoed.cgi
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n829/a03.html
Author: Jeanette C. Robertson

IS LEGALIZATION THE ANSWER? WEIGHING THE MERITS OF MARIJUANA

IT HAS CALMING EFFECTS

I'm a Reagan Republican and a middle-aged female completely 
uninterested in any kind of drugs - sans beer, which is much worse - 
and I feel strongly that marijuana should indeed be legalized.

I have seen firsthand what daily marijuana use can do for a person 
and it is much less harmful to our bodies (in its unaltered form, of 
course) than prescription pills.

Since we have a maniacal aversion to anything that has to be smoked 
in this society, I believe that has much to do with the fight against 
making it legal.

As for it being a "gateway drug," in my experience it has been the 
opposite, as people who once had serious drug problems come back to 
the calming effect of pot in lieu of the awful, life-altering effects 
of other illicit drugs.

This statement may make some folks laugh, but I say often that 
marijuana is God's Prozac - again in its unaltered form. It is 
calming, it aids in sleep, it increases your appetite, etc. Add to 
that all the folks who are in jails and prisons as a result of usage 
and/or delivery and that would ease the burden on the system to a great degree.

Unfortunately, there are many folks out there who flat need calming down.

Jeanette C. Robertson, Fort Worth
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