Marijuana use should be legal 

Norm Jackson says it makes no sense to legalize pot (“Legalizing marijuana makes no sense,” June 17). As a lifelong anti-drug crusader, he should know what he’s talking about, but he doesn’t. He is adamantly against pot, but his remarks aren’t about pot at all but about alcohol. Again and again he uses alcohol as an example, and his examples on crime are appropriate to opiates, amphetamines, or cocaine, but not to marijuana. And as far as violent crimes go, Jackson’s remarks are simply echoes of the outrageous lies told back in the 1930s. Marijauna, unlike alcohol, does not make folks aggressive but has a calming, mellowing effect.

 The anti-marijuana people are gearing up to stop its likely legalization in November. But the lies they tell are ever more transparent. What makes no sense is that marijuana use was made a crime in the first place. What makes no sense is filling our prisons because of a broadly effective medicinal herb that is also a relatively benign recreational drug.