Drug reform needed and supported in US

On March 13 at 9 p.m., ABC aired a one-hour news special hosted by Peter Jennings. This program, titled "Pot of Gold," showed marijuana grown in America for probably the first time in a prime-time slot. It featured Americans from across the country, and across political and generational boundaries.

These people all shared a similar story: they are growing marijuana plants as a cash crop. However none of the growers see themselves as criminals; rather, they are just people who, like everyone else, need to make a living. A group of 20-something gen-Xers from the northwest have found that the cannabis plant can support them without need of a second job. A republican couple from the Midwest are faced with possible layoffs from corporate downsizing. In response, these self-proclaimed ditto heads, began to raise marijuana plants in their basement.

Farmers in Bacon County, Ga., and across the southeast face hard times. Dealing with rising costs of farm equipment, many of these farmers have turned to raising marijuana plants alongside they normal crops. They do this just to make ends meet.

As we all know, the marijuana plant is still illegal in this country, but how long can this go on? In the northwest, police said that there was little chance of stopping indoor growers. In Georgia, the people elected a sheriff whose brother was a known grower. The former sheriff was quoted as saying: You can only police the people as far as the people want to be policed.

If anyone interested in seeing this show, I would like to organize a showing with a round-table discussion afterwards. As Arizonans we are at the forefront of this debate. As our state legislature attempts to water down voter initiative Proposition 200, we need to get out there and let the politicians at both the state and federal level know that we the people want drug law reform.

How far do you want to be policed?

By Brian N. Decker (letter)
Arizona Daily Wildcat
March 24, 1997