Legalize it

Dear Editor:Thank you for bringing to our attention the complete injustice of the illegality of marijuana (Aspen Times, Feb. 15). It is an issue about which too many of us are afraid to publicly confront. Note that the city of Denver has recently decriminalized marijuana possession of under an ounce to a nonprosecutable offense; it is not even a misdemeanor. Yet a small amount of marijuana concentrate can send a person to prison for two to six years! While the sensory experience of marijuana concentrate, or hash, is different, it is not necessarily more potent than marijuana. Some hash is less potent. Rightly speaking, the potency is comparable. I bet our lawmakers didn’t know that, nor do any scientific, medical studies to support the stringency of the law.Moreover, the consumption of alcohol, to a degree of drunkenness, is generally far more detrimental to a person’s state of mental, vocal, and physical control, balance and coordination, than the consumption of marijuana; yet it is legal. That being proper and just, then it stands to reason that marijuana too be legal for consenting adults. Unbiased studies are needed.It is corrupt that alcohol and pharmaceutical companies make billions on intoxicating the public with complete consent and complicity from our government, while a young man could go to jail for two to six years for holding a very small amount of hash in his pocket for personal consumption. Christopher BrodSnowmass