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Legalizing marijuana could have many benefts
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Editor, Thank you for printing the editorial from The Gazette of Colorado Springs on your opinion page in the Courier Oct. 23, entitled Don’t prosecute medical marijuana.
According to the article, President Obama’s administration has instructed the Justice Department to stop enforcing federal laws against medical marijuana patients.
I applaud President Obama for taking this wise and bold stand. As stated in the article this natural drug is as effective and far less harmful than many hard drugs produced and distributed by our pharmaceutical giants.
An entire generation has been aware for 35 or more years that the use of marijuana is perhaps the best stress relief of any of the drugs available at the pharmacy. It is not nearly as harmful as tobacco or alcohol.
It should be legalized and grown in this country so the distribution could be taken out of the hands of the Mexican cartels and stop the flow of millions of dollars out of the country. Easily half of those millions could be flowing into our Treasury Department as tax revenue, just like the tobacco and alcohol. The other half of those millions would remain here in this country and improve our economy.
I suspect as an industry it could support more of a labor force to cultivate and process it on farms and in factories here than the law enforcement employed to combat it. And that labor force would be employed in the creation of a revenue stream for the government to generate tax income rather than consuming tax dollars from the revenue stream.
Authorities’ efforts fighting the war on drugs are hindered because of those who use it know that it is beneficial. Take marijuana cultivation out of the hands of those countries which are producing the cocaine and we would have a better chance of slowing down the importation of that dreadful substance. That would be the greatest benefit of all.

Jimmy Smith  
McIntosh community
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