60 minutes

I hope every one watched 60 minutes tonite.Their story on the big mess that the feds have created in California over medical marijuana was a major eye opener.The minister(methodist,I think),that sponsored the legislation.Now believes it's being abused by the vast majority of current users.His answer surprised me.He thinks the drug should be legalized by the federal government.What a concept.The fact that most of the featured patients posed the question that it was a lesser evil than the opiate drugs they were being prescribed before,made perfect sense.As a long time addict, I have no illusions as to the validity of that assertion.Heroin addiction is a virtually incurable disease.There are people that quit.I propose,however,that the ones that succeed are either not addictive personalities or have a life that supercedes their need for the drug.At 59 years of age.If I could quit,I would have by now.I didn't spend half of my youth in prisons because I enjoyed the company.It wasn't the food either.The assertion by the prohibitionists that legalization would increase the number of addicts is so ridiculous that it doesn't even deserve a response.There are no people out there just waiting for the drug to be legalized so they can destroy what ever potential they posses by shooting heroin.There are 1 1/2% of the population that are going to use it no matter what the consequences.This is a historically known fact.As for marijuana,no one claims it's any worse than alcohol.Most agree it's less.