Enough with the ‘Reefer Madness’ tactics

To the editor:

It’s astounding to me, in 2013, that the same lies and misinformation about cannabis still pervade our society (“Marijuana poison,” Friday letters).

Jim Guynup refers to some clinical photos he was “privy to,” which showed that cannabis use leaves a deep black crust on “every user’s brain.” This is simply ludicrous. In 7,000 years of worldwide cannabis use, why is Mr. Guynup the only person ever to have seen this “crust” and report on it? I’ve never heard of this crust, and a quick Internet search also came up empty.

He then goes on to cite the popular misinformation that cannabis contains “more than 500 poisons,” some of which can be “deadly.” Again over 7,000 years and not one reported death related to cannabis use. Which “deadly poisons” is he referring to, specifically? Cannabinoids, according to new research, actually kill cancer cells.

This popular myth of the “400 chemicals” in cannabis is another propaganda tool. Every plant on Earth contains hundreds of chemicals. Chemicals are the building blocks of life. In the coffee we drink every morning, there are more than 1,000 (including caffeine, a known addictive substance). How many chemicals are in sleeping pills or painkillers?

It frustrates me to see the same tired old lies bandied about by well-meaning but ill-informed people intent on keeping cannabis illegal and cannabis users criminals. This plant helps many people, whether they use it as medicine or, as many use alcohol, for recreation and enjoyment. It should be decriminalized, regulated like other “adult” substances, and Nevada should benefit from the taxes and jobs created by the new industry surrounding this safer medicinal and recreational alternative.

ROB WEIDENFELD

HENDERSON

Gas tax

To the editor:

Your April 11 editorial on gasoline tax increases didn’t reveal all the facts. By what logic is the automobile driver responsible for financing all these fancy buses? Not only that, but the auto drivers also have to finance the road repairs that are required due to the damage caused by heavy buses. And to think that buses even have their own bus lanes, with no autos permitted, as well as being able to control traffic signals.

Bus fares are insufficient to cover all the costs, bus lanes and road upkeep involved in our bus service. All citizens should be taxed for that shortfall, not just the automobile owners. Such legislation should also state that all gas taxes must be used for the sole purpose of maintaining our roads.

HOWARD W. THOMPSON

LAS VEGAS

What about hybrids?

To the editor:

Your April 11 editorial and several articles detailed proposals to increase the gasoline tax so needed road improvements can be made. It causes a real dilemma. Conservation efforts have cut gasoline usage, which caused reduced revenues. Raising the gasoline tax will increase revenues, but the cost of many consumer goods in a fragile economic recovery will increase.

What’s the right answer? I don’t know.

I will add to the problem: Nowhere have I seen any mention of how to deal with hybrid and electric cars, which use less or no gas. How should these vehicles contribute to the roadways they use? I hope our legislators also address this issue.

PHILLIP MLYNEK

LAS VEGAS

Saturday mail

To the editor:

It’s hard to believe the story “Postal Service retreats on eliminating Saturday mail” wasn’t the front-page headline in your newspaper April 11. Forget about gun control, immigration and balanced budgets.

This is the story that people should be reading.

In the story, it says the U.S. Postal Service lost $16 billion last year, and it states that Congress passed a bill in 2006 that requires the Postal Service to pay $11.1 billion into future retirees’ health benefits, something no other agency does.

What’s going on in this country? We have a Congress that has no intention of doing anything on getting a balanced budget.

We could get by on three-day delivery of the mail. And if the Postal Service would make junk mail first class, it could make a profit. FedEx and the rest of the delivery services in this country are making a profit. Why is it when the government gets involved we lose money? Running the post office isn’t brain surgery.

As we now see, it’s not the Postal Service, but the Congress. It seems the Postal Service has been overruled by Congress on ending Saturday delivery. With all the problems in this country, nothing is going to change.

DAVE MESKER

LAS VEGAS

Deadly force

To the editor:

After so many questionable police shootings, the Clark County district attorney’s decision in the death of Stanley Gibson confirms (if confirmation were needed) that we must all now live in fear of interaction with Las Vegas police.

From your April 12 report, “Criminal charges won’t be filed in police shooting of veteran”: “The Nevada Supreme Court makes it perfectly clear that the mere perception of danger, as opposed to actual danger, is sufficient to warrant a killing in self-defense.”

Let me repeat that: “the mere perception of danger … is sufficient to warrant a killing.”

God protect us from this heavily armed force which even the Nevada Supreme Court is unwilling or unable to control.

GRAHAM H. TYE

NORTH LAS VEGAS