Dear Editor,
This is a response to kort Patterson's "Digressions And Diatribes" in the Oct/Nov issue about legalizing medical marijuana. It should be easier than that. Al Gore could have been arrested and charged once - he admitted it. My use was and is as minimal as his. Even the judges have smoked marijuana. They feel in bad faith when they prosecute it, and it is a nuisance and time-consuming to have such cases on the court calendar.
I'm told that it is already the leading cash crop in a couple of the states. Hemp (the parent plant in cannabis) has many uses, not only for rope. It was used for fuel and for the chassis of the first model T's. The first Encyclopedia Britannia was printed on hemp. It has many good uses.
Marijuana, tobacco, alcohol, and gambling should be legal and heavily taxed as luxuries to discourage them - but they should be 1egal for those over 18, the age of legal consent and inheriting, voting, etc.
The above would constitute a reform in the sense that it would relieve our law enforcement officials from the burden of hypocrisy.
Richard Kovac