Re: James Giles' Nov. 3 commentary, "Eliminate profit motive":
I completely agree with the premise put forth by Giles. Today, we are "creating" more criminals in the way we handle the drug issue, especially marijuana. Instead of putting our kids in jail, let's try and protect them -- yes, protect them -- by handling the drug as if it were cigarettes or alcohol.
We all know that the kids can get the drugs, and we also know that they have no idea what they are ingesting. Youngsters feel they are invincible, and no amount of warning is going to scare them off. If we were to legalize it, not only would we eliminate a certain criminal element, but we could monitor how the drug is produced and manufactured, tax it so that the various government agencies would make more money, sell it with certain legal restrictions such as those regulating cigarettes and alcohol, and then leave it up to parents to monitor what their children are doing.
The fact is that our children are very much at risk with the use of street drugs and medications exchanged without anyone knowing what they are. Nothing has worked to eliminate or lessen that risk. All we have done is create a whole new generation of criminals and create more need for the crimes to be committed.
I think the decriminalization of drugs is the issue, however -- not the profit motive. I know many people will not agree with me, but those are my thoughts.
-- Jan Schulman, Oxnard