Letter: Illegal pot can contain poisons
File - In this March 28, 2011, file photo shows a marijuana plant, in Portland, Ore. Medical marijuana advocates have a message for Democratic leaders and federal prosecutors with an eye on political office: Don't mess with pot. Pushing back against the Obama administration's crackdown on state medical marijuana programs, one of the nation's largest pro-pot groups is claiming credit for the defeat of a former federal prosecutor in the Democratic primary for Oregon attorney general. As interim U.S. attorney, Dwight Holton called Oregon's medical marijuana law a "train wreck" and oversaw efforts to crack down on pot shops and marijuana gardens that claim to be operating under the state law. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) Credit: AP Photo/Rick Bowmer
Bethany Blankley's opinion piece, "A half-baked idea about marijuana" [June 12], failed to mention that criminalizing pot means it is trafficked by people who don't care about adulterating cannabis with things that should not be ingested, such as chloroform and herbicides.
She failed to mention that prohibition eliminates competition and quality control at the same time, while boosting revenue for those who do bring it to black market buyers. She failed to mention that although substances in cannabis block pain, and although hemp seeds are a complete food and legal in the United States to eat, big pharmaceutical companies can't make huge profits from such products, so they lobby against them.
Clarence Dember Jr., Copiague
