PUBLIC FORUM : ARGUMENTS FOR LEGALIZING DRUGS CHALLENGED.In certain letters published recently in Public Forum on the passage of Proposition 215, legalizing the medical use of marijuana, some of your readers said, or appeared to be saying, the following: Because tobacco and alcoholic beverages
tr.v. le·gal·ized, le·gal·iz·ing, le·gal·iz·es To make legal or lawful; authorize or sanction by law. le the use of pot. My response: Do several wrongs automatically make one right? Prohibition ended in defeat and repeal. My response: Do you really believe there are fewer alcoholics, fewer problem drinkers and fewer alcohol-related automobile accidents and fatalities because Prohibition was repealed? Legalizing drugs makes the person, not society, responsible. My response: Will people who have once irresponsibly broken drug laws become responsible citizens? Telling our youth that marijuana should be classified the same as other drugs is a roadblock to an effective anti-drug policy. My response: Is it unreasonable to think about the potential impact of drug use upon mothers, fathers, children, spouses, other family members, friends, employers, fellow workers, medical costs, medical insurance costs, automobile insurance costs, etc.? No person is an island. There is no question in my mind that the vast majority of people who voted yes on Proposition 215 did so mainly to justify their addiction to the use of marijuana. There's probably not much we can do about the potheads who currently exist. But, do we really have to tell our kids it's OK to use marijuana, even before they've taken their first puff? How can a group of people, who claim to be so concerned with the comfort of AIDS and cancer patients, be so cavalier about the mental and physical health of future generations? - David M. Galfond Palmdale Thomas A. Constantine Thomas A. Constantine served as Administrator for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) between April 15, 1994 and July 1999[1]. Thomas A. Constantine was born in Buffalo, New York on December 23 1938. , head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was established in 1973 by President richard m. nixon as part of the Justice Department, thus uniting a number of federal drug agencies that had often worked at cross-purposes. , and other officials say they regard the new California and Arizona drug laws as part of a growing national campaign to legalize drugs. Why do these ``public servants'' insult the public by indicating that we don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what we voted for? After all, we voted for and elected them! They say there's no scientific information that justifies removing marijuana from the list of dangerous controlled substances and making it available for medical use. Jack Lewin, California Medical Association chief executive, said the federal government should initiate a research project to provide marijuana for patients. He said such a study would free physicians and patients from any threat and perhaps settle the long dispute over marijuana's medical effectiveness. I say this is a project that should be sponsored by the federal government but run by a nonprofit medical organization. Medical research projects are often conducted at our universities and hospitals and are financed by drug companies, which obviously don't want marijuana used for medical purposes because it taps into their pockets, or with federal grants - our money, and we are interested in relieving pain as cheaply as possible. Let's put some ethics into this study of marijuana and find out the truth! - Jean Fleming Studio City Thank you for printing the article ``Many politicians scorn democracy as much as drugs'' by Sandy Grady (Opinions, Dec. 6). It has been clear for a long time that this nation's expensive war on drugs has been a failure, for many of the reasons that were stated in the article. Dangerous drug use has not been stopped. Our justice system is so overwhelmed that it barely functions. Our quality of life has deteriorated so badly that few women are willing to walk our streets at night. Illegal drug laws create huge financial rewards for people to become criminal drug dealers. - Charles Church Charles Church may refer to:
Canoga Park Progress on narcotics narcotics n. 1) techinically, drugs which dull the senses. 2) a popular generic term for drugs which cannot be legally possessed, sold, or transported except for medicinal uses for which a physician or dentist's prescription is required. reform is being stonewalled by those who contend that legalizing narcotics for medical purposes - as in Proposition 215 - is government's endorsement of the use of narcotics. This reasoning would contend that legalized alcoholic beverages, abortion and tobacco sales are also government endorsements. Charles Church was absolutely correct in his Nov. 27 letter, when he observed that our drug laws are a dismal failure. Unfortunately, carte blanch blanch to become pale. legalizing of narcotics would lead ultimately to the same sort of irresponsible advertising and runaway consumption that we experienced when Prohibition was repealed. The logical and common-sense approach would be to transfer the production and distribution of narcotics from the drug lords, street gangs and schoolyard pushers to the U.S. government, where there would be no advertising, no pushing, no profits, no contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. narcotics, etc. - and where addicts could obtain their necessities without robbing and killing. - Fred W. Coble co·ble n. 1. Nautical A small flatbottom fishing boat with a lugsail on a raking mast. 2. Scots A kind of flatbottom rowboat. North Hills Guns and the GOP I am responding to a Dec. 3 Opinion article by John Jacobs, ``Once a help to state GOP, gun issues now haunt it.'' Sal Russo was quoted as saying ``the debate has become, Do you have the right to own a machine gun or a military assault weapon?'' First off, Congress banned the ownership of machine guns - a weapon that fires continuously with a single pull of the trigger - back in the late '20s. It is equally difficult to own an assault weapon. An assault weapon is a rifle capable of being fired fully automatically or semiautomatically. This kind of weapon has not been available to the public. Only semiautomatic rifles are available to the public. The assault weapons ban only banned semiautomatic rifles that looked like some military weapon. The second comment I would like to make is an armed populace is a safe populace. Our society will always have violent criminals. Criminals will always find some means and weapon to carry out their act. The residents of this state should be able to carry a concealed weapon concealed weapon n. a weapon, particularly a handgun, which is kept hidden on one's person, or under one's control (in a glove compartment or under a car seat). with a permit. Other states with similar laws have had their murder and rape occurrences decrease. When will our elected officials stop taking the rights and freedoms away from us that allow us to defend ourselves? - Wayne Horning horn·ing n. Upstate New York, Northern Pennsylvania, & Western New England See shivaree. See Regional Note at shivaree. [Probably because horns are blown at the shivaree.] Acton I totally disagree with Jacobs. In my opinion, we now have a society of gutless system-dependent, entitlement-seekers, which the Democratic Party panders to. We taxpayers are becoming a rare and endangered species endangered species, any plant or animal species whose ability to survive and reproduce has been jeopardized by human activities. In 1999 the U.S. government, in accordance with the U.S. . The days of self-reliance and individual responsibility are over. I see the future of this country as no longer a republic but an oligarchy oligarchy (ŏl`əgärkē) [Gr.,=rule by the few], rule by a few members of a community or group. When referring to governments, the classical definition of oligarchy, as given for example by Aristotle, is of government by a few, usually where the rich will enjoy the privileges we commoners can only dream of. We truly need a ``Braveheart'' to lead us out of this socialistic so·cial·is·tic adj. Of, advocating, or tending toward socialism. so  cial·is abyss. - Phillip A. Pilgram Glendale Safire rebutted So William Safire is going to boycott the Nixon Library as a protest against the association with Lee Kwan Yu (``Island mall dictator offers only tyranny''). One wonders what causes Mr. Safire to take such a punitory pu·ni·to·ry adj. Inflicting or intended to inflict punishment. [From Latin p  n act. President Nixon was probably one of America's greatest statesmen - unfortunately. Under the circumstances that embroil em·broil tr.v. em·broiled, em·broil·ing, em·broils 1. To involve in argument, contention, or hostile actions: "Avoid . . . our political system, he was as good as they come. He also was able to recognize another great leader, even though he disagreed with his philosophy. Singapore was roundly criticized when its legal system punished an American youth for defacing someone else's property; even our president pleaded for clemency Leniency or mercy. A power given to a public official, such as a governor or the president, to in some way lower or moderate the harshness of punishment imposed upon a prisoner. Clemency is considered to be an act of grace. . Yet, in Los Angeles, a youth was shot dead - while allegedly committing the same act - by a self-appointed vigilante vigilante n. someone who takes the law into his/her own hands by trying and/or punishing another person without any legal authority. In the 1800s groups of vigilantes dispensed "frontier justice" by holding trials of accused horse-thieves, rustlers and shooters, and , and it was accepted. Some even applauded the killing. Mr. Safire, could it be that Nixon understood something you don't? - William Brady Reseda Parents pay plenty Re the letter by Joan Jaeckle (``LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) should ask parents to fund schools,'' Public Forum, Dec. 3: With four children at three different schools, we have probably already spent a ``mere'' $500 and we are not halfway through the school year yet. This has been on uniforms, extra workbooks, book fairs, yearbooks, various fund-raisers and a variety of other items too numerous to mention. This is on top of heavy property taxes, some of which we hope reaches the schools. As we come from Europe, I find it amazing that hardly a week goes by when I don't take out my checkbook to help supplement my children's education in some form or other. I never used to and I didn't expect to on coming to the United States. I don't think you will find many parents willing to give an extra $500 toward repairs, which are the Los Angeles Unified School District's responsibility. They are paying enough already. - Sally Barrett Valencia `Our soldiers are sick and dying' This is about the Gulf War syndrome Gulf War syndrome, popular name for a variety of ailments experienced by veterans after the Persian Gulf War. Symptoms reported include nausea, cramps, rashes, short-term memory loss, fatigue, difficulty in breathing, headaches, joint and muscle pain, and birth and the huge cover-up by the government. Despite all the denials by the Department of Defense and the Veterans Affairs Department The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) operates programs to benefit veterans and members of their families. Benefits include compensation payments for disabilities or death related to military service, pensions, education, and rehabilitation. , thousands of our soldiers are sick and dying. It is an outrage that the American public is denied any explanations about the threat of contamination. If a Gulf War veteran can pass his illness to his family members by simply living with them, what makes other people immune to this moderate contagious illness that can kill? I am not a doctor, but I know that my husband was a healthy, young, patriotic man before he went to the war. He came back with hardly any symptoms, and now he is getting sick very slowly. I was healthy all my life; now I have problems I never dreamed of. We have two children, one born after the war, and he was sick most of the time through his first year. All we want is treatment and acknowledgment for the suffering that this war has cost. All we want to hear is the truth about the chemical and biological warfare biological warfare, employment in war of microorganisms to injure or destroy people, animals, or crops; also called germ or bacteriological warfare. Limited attempts have been made in the past to spread disease among the enemy; e.g. during that war, and the truth about the vaccines and medications given to our troops. Our troops fought for their country. It is time that their country fights for them. - Kerstin Jackson California City |
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