ANSWERING KATHLEEN PARKER'S ADVOCACY FOR THE LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA

Yesterday’s Houston Chronicle ran an op-ed piece by conservative columnist Kathleen Parker in which she praised the Obama administration for ordering the U.S. Attorneys, the DEA and the FBI not to enforce the federal prohibition against the use and possession of marijuana in those states where pot users are in compliance with state law.

Parker went far beyond praising the Obama administration’s new pot policy. What she wrote was an advocacy for the legalization of marijuana. Parker used a misleading term - “decriminalization” - which anyone with half a brain knows to be a euphemism for legalization.

I am certain that the overwhelming majority in the law enforcement community would be absolutely infuriated with her legalization advocacy. That is why I responded to Parker as follows:

Dear Ms. Parker

I read most of your columns and usually agree with your views. However, when you advocate the decriminalization, a euphemism for legalization, of marijuana it would appear that you have either taken leave of your senses or inhaled too much of that funny tobacco smoke exhaled by your potted pals.

For starters, many reputable physicians do not believe that medical marijuana has any actual medical benefits. There are many prescription drugs on the market that will take care of the ailments medical marijuana is prescribed for.

Then take a good look at what has happened in the Sunshine State. In California, the law legalizing marijuana for medical purposes has turned into a scandalous perversion of the law’s intent. Every Tom, Dick, Harry, Mary and Jane seems to be suffering from some kind of affliction that enables them to obtain a marijuana prescription. Pot dispensaries have sprung up like weeds and there are now a bunch of “medical” marijuana clubs operating openly. Los Angeles alone has an estimated 1,000 medical marijuana clubs and dispensaries. Hundreds of pot “pharmacists” have become multi-millionaires.

As for pot itself, Marijuana has been recognized as a gateway drug from the very beginning and it continues to remain a gateway drug to this day. Contrary to the claims of the legalization crowd, pot is an addictive drug. And when the use of marijuana becomes prosaic, many of its users will switch to harder drugs like cocaine, methamphetamines and opiates.

You wrote that “the drug war has empowered criminals while criminalizing otherwise law-abiding citizens.” I beg your pardon! It is the users of illegal drugs that have empowered criminals, not the war on drugs. And when druggies choose to break the law, they have chosen to criminalize themselves. Pot heads chose to become criminals when they first toked up. The war on drugs did not force them to smoke marijuana or to use any other illegal drugs.

As for the drug traffickers , especially those from the Mexican drug cartels, they flourish only because of the insatiable hunger for pot, coke, meth and heroin by law breakers from our side of the border. It’s the law of supply and demand.

I could go on and on, but this should give you a good idea of why your column advocating the legalization of marijuana has infuriated many of us in the law enforcement community. We are convinced that the legalization of any drugs that are now prohibited will have a very deleterious effect on our country.

Respectfully submitted

/Signed/