Letters to the editor for Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Endless vilification of marijuana becoming senseless

Guy W. Farmer’s animosity toward all things marijuana knows no bounds. Using phrases such as “dumping hundreds of sorry stoners into the streets” amounts to nothing but yellow journalism.

Hey, Guy, why not mention all the “abusive alcoholics” running amok while you’re at it? As always, Guy can’t bring himself to criticize alcohol or tobacco, which are two legal drugs with far worse health consequences than marijuana.

Guy constantly condemns marijuana edibles, presumably in order to “protect the children.” Why doesn’t Guy have as much outrage about the alcohol industry with its alcoholic “treats” such as root beer, orange and cream sodas I now see everywhere? How about letting parents be responsible instead of outlawing things through a nanny state?

One more thing to think about, the five top entities against legalizing marijuana are pharmaceutical corporations, police unions, private prison corporations, prison guard unions, and the alcohol industry.

Pharmaceuticals want to sell their drugs (with dangerous side effects), police receive funding to battle pot, prisons want bodies to profit from and alcohol doesn’t want competition to their drug. It’s pretty simple, all of these entities stand to lose money if marijuana is legal.

Criminalizing alcohol was a disaster during prohibition and so is the ongoing criminalization of marijuana today. Jailing people for victimless crimes is insane. Folks who enjoy a toke or two for relaxation or medication should be allowed to do so legally and in no way deserve to be constantly attacked and vilified by the likes of Guy Farmer.

Alan Banfield

Carson City