Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

As a former police officer who arrested more people for marijuana than I care to remember, I'd like to commend Tieg Slattery for a thoughtful and well-argued piece in favor of marijuana legalization ("Marijuana reform necessary, but unlikely," April 22).

However, Slattery's pessimism about the outcome of the legalization vote in November is unwarranted. A news report on April 21st described a SurveyUSA poll of 500 adults done for CBS News in which 56 percent of Californians said they believe "the state of California (should) legalize the use of marijuana." One reason for this support is that regulating cannabis would advance goals that are important to all of us, including greater use of limited law enforcement resources to focus on violent crime and other real threats. It's also worth noting that the 40-foot billboards that Mr. Slattery rightly dreads would be prohibited under the initiative.

College students and other young people can play a decisive part in bringing cannabis regulation to California in November. I encourage all young people to learn about the initiative and to work for its victory.

Sincerely,

Jeff Studdard