Dear FRONTLINE,
The police showed up at my house one day and lied to me to gain my consent to search.They said they were looking for cocaine and would ignore any personal amounts of marijuana, I consented, they didn't find any coke and they didn't ignore my 8 plants.Total weight about 6 oz.I'm 34 yrs. old and have never been arrrested before, after 18 hrs. in jail and many court appearances I accepted judicial diversion and upon completion of 1 yr. probation will not have any record. The state recieved nothing but court costs and probation fees from me, but my lawyer got A bunch.
Is it right? No. as an American I should be free to grow a harmless plant in my own home for my own use. Marijuana is not dangerous and in Holland where it's defacto legal, their youths are using it at 1/3 the rates here in America. I'm the victim, not the crime.
Rick Sorak
Dear FRONTLINE,
In regards to last night's broadcast about marijuana, we feel strongly that marijuana should be legalized, especially for medicinal purposes. My life was affected when my father used marijuana to help with his chemo therapy. I saw the effects first hand, and was convinced his last few months were more peaceful and less painful than without.
Sean & Theresa Babin
Dear FRONTLINE,
To sentence someone to a lenghty prison senence for the mere possesion of marijuana is absurd. To further impose mandatory minimum sentences for such an offense is an abonination. The fact that marijuana violantions are rarely if ever associated with violent crime should serve as an example as to the benign nature of the crime at hand. Statistically, as well as scientifically; marijuana has proven to be the least dangerous of all drugs, even compared to alcohol. The real reason for the harshness of punishment for these violations is the alleged effect the marijuana dealers have on our children and young adults. If the government were to prosecute and punish violaters who supplied far more dangerous alcohol to minors as harshly, there would be a significant difference in public reaction.
John Melendez
Austin, TX
Dear FRONTLINE,
Having recently been arrested for posession of under 2oz, personal use I cannot believe that we are wasting taxpayer dollars to prosecute individuals who smoke! The state governments could be making millions by legalizing and taxing hemp! I was one of the fortunate ones who could afford a good attorney, and had all charges dropped Illegal search and seizure. I hope your program will have an influence on the people who make the laws in this country. Keep up the un-biased work!
Brady Brown
Dear FRONTLINE,
The documentary is informative and quite accurate in the aspect that the drug by it's own merits do not reflect a drug culture of just addicts and dealers. A forum on the substance would be most welcomed. Sen. Hatch UT must be naive to think that all his constituents are drug-free. He may be a respectable citizen but to subject mostly harmless Americans to extreme incarceration who would rather smoke some Marijuana rather than get tanked on alcohol and kill somebody. Although I am an occasional user, I am not saying I condone the use for the adolescents. The drug does affect the cognitive and memory skills that a young person must posess for they are still in their educational and impressionable years of their lives. I base this on my own experience and life history. I am not a criminal but a law-biding citizen. I have earned a post-secondary degree but I must admit, it required extreme efforts at times. The bottomline is that the plant is not a dangerous substance to society as other substances may be but it can have an effect on one's best productive capabilities.
Ed Lew
Dear FRONTLINE,
I've got a great idea! If we want to illustrate the "evil" marijuana is, we ought to put the statistics side by side with alcohol and see what it tells us. I think we all know which is clearly more dangerous, which contributes more to the degredation of society.
Benjamin Cavil
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Dear FRONTLINE,
It is my firm belief that there should be further studies done on marijuana, so that we may further learn about it's negative as well as it's positive if there are anyside affects. Than we may be able to come to a conculsion as to wether it is beneficial to cancer and aids patients. We may also be able to discover wether or not recreational use is harmful.
David Schmid
Dear FRONTLINE,
Mandatory fines for misdemeanor possession has not been very successful in stoping young teens and adults in their early 20s from possessing, using and sometimes selling pot. I belive a requirement that the offenders have periodic drug testing for the period of their probation, even for first offenders, should be required; AND if the offender tests positive there should be specific consequences. Community service geared toward teens would seem to be more effective than monetary fines that the parents often pay. For the repeat offenders jail perhaps shock incaration at first would be an option. However, if the above mentioned sentences are not mandated, many judges will not require such involvement because of the cost to the County/State, because there are not enough probation officers to enforce the drug tests, or because compared to many of the violent crimes judges see day after day, they just don't see marajuana use as a serious offense. Unfortunately, smoking pot is often the first step toward theft, selling drugs, using more serious drugs cocaine, crack, meth, deceptive practices and eventually violent crimes. The goal of law enforcement should be stopping the crime at the lowest level, pot usage, instead of waiting until the offender is addicted to other drugs, involved in a gang, or possessing and using a gun.
Ann Bloss
Dear FRONTLINE,
When a law enforcement agent compares the war on marijuana with abortion, he reveals the hypocracy of the system. It's O.K. to kill the unborn, but God help you if you survive birth and grow up to enjoy an occasional marijuana cigarette.
Our government spends too much in resources chasing down marijuana "criminals" when there are so many other important issues to deal with such as the deeper social ills that cause the need to escape through drugs and alcohol.
As far as the potential for harm to users; remember, you can kill yourself with Twinkies, but there's no law against them.
Mark Bohne
Dear FRONTLINE,
As an upper level executive at a major global corporation and a 20+ year veteran pot smoker I have done very well in my personal and professional lives. Pot modifies my perception and enables me to use its euphoric feelings to "advance" my mental processes.
I lived in the US armed services while a pot smoker, have been busted by family, friends and law enforcement but have realized and accepted that pot will be a part of my life for some time to come.
I have never understood why, with no negative effect on other individuals why are pot smokers continually harassed. Arrest the people that commit crimes against society like murder, rape, and robbery and quit focusing on people that would rather sit home, smoke pot and not bother anyone and are generally nice. Just go to a concert and approach any pot smoker and ask for a hit. They'll probably give you one.
Dave H
Dear FRONTLINE,
I was particualry displeased with the comment made by Dennis Fitzgerald when he said that when pot smokers aren't able to get pot, their alternate action is to go rob a liquer store. I believe this gentleman needs to put his money where his mouth is and do some real research to find out just how many individuals who partake of marijuana also rob banks out of desperation. This is how false rumors begin to circulate and then, voila. . ignorance is born.
Viva la mota.
Malindi Edwards
Asheville, NC
Dear FRONTLINE,
I felt your program was as fair and balanced as you could be considering the topic. There is no doubt, after years of research, that Comitas and Rubin were correct in 1978 when they reported to the National Institutes of Mental Health and the World Mental Health Organization, the president of which was Comitas, that marijuana is one of the least toxic substances known to man and after an exhaustive study of long-term users could find no harm in the use of marijuana. The book they published in 1978 was titled Ganja in Jamaica and the researchers involved read like a who's who in psychiatry, medicine, sociology, psychology, etc. Why does our government insist on destroying our Constitution and people's lives when, according to your story, nearly as many people use marijuana regularly as use tobacco despite it's legal status. Prohibition of alcohol didn't work and raised the crime rates, and the same is true of this unconscionable drug war.
Dr. Richard E. Pearl, Sr.
Murfreesboro, TN
Dear FRONTLINE,
Its funny how people like Sen. orrin hatch can get so adamant and self righteous regarding marijuana use, but yet accept hundreds of thousands of dollars from the tabacco lobby so they can continue to kill thousands of americans each year legally! marijuana use has in no way caused the devastation that tobacco has, nor has it killed anyone. should marijuana be legal? Thats for the people of each state to decide. Obviously we have reached a point in american history where we are either going to lose or individual rights to privacy and choice, or we will fight for and demand our personal liberties guaranteed by the constitution.
Harold Williams
Charlotte, NC
Dear FRONTLINE,
It seems to be time to re-evaluate the laws in effect for first time non-violent drug offenders. First, the jails are quickly filling up with rehabilitatable first time offenders. Second, there is very little concrete studies that have been done on the effects of this plant. Third, there were motivations in place when these laws were made that, from historical context, perhaps made them more reasonable.Much like prohibition or the Glass-Stegall Act However , it's time to revisit a law that gives a first time drug offender more time than someone convicted of assault. or even murder in some states. Finally, this plant can provide us with some answers to the enironmental crises we face today with deforestation and production of paper and clothing.
Sally Bartell
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Dear FRONTLINE,
The current drug enforcement climate is one of boost our bottom line, the current seizure laws make it very profitable for local enforcement agencies to create an interesting revenue center, what they do not realize is, if you divert funds away from pursuing marijuana to pursuing REAL criminals, many police departments will actually have the labor and funding to start protecting and serving the community again!
The financial jackpot only gets bigger with the potential tax benefits to be realized. More taxes to educated our kids, fix the environment and to help members of the community in need of assistance.
When did it become fashionable to ignore the will of the people? The answer lies in who benefits from the policies in place,in respect to drug laws - most everyone gets a kick back; from the chemist who works on an R&D team to develop the latest and most invasive hair test to your neighborhood social worker happy to receive a government grant that has some insane anti-drug clause attached.
Maybe, just maybe we'll consider the possible outcomes of jailing more pot smokers than rapists! Old argument, still valid!
J. Gatrell 
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