Marijuana legalization can have societal benefits
With regard to the Jan. 10 editorial “Law of the Land: Sessions Is Right to Enforce Federal Marijuana Law”: The PG frames a policy promoting marijuana legalization as contradictory to the agenda of fighting the opioid crisis. As a social worker, I feel qualified to discuss the intersection of substance use and social welfare policy.
First, opioids create severe physical dependency and addiction that can be lethal. Marijuana does not have the same devastating consequences that destroy lives and communities. Comparing the effects of the opioid epidemic with the potentials of marijuana legalization is not practical, as each substance impacts the community in vastly different ways.
Furthermore, it is not a conflict to strictly control the pharmaceutical industry that produces opiates and also regulate and manage a legal marijuana infrastructure. Perhaps the only similarity is that opioids and marijuana are both substances used medically and recreationally subject to a federal scheduling system. We must recall that alcohol and tobacco industries thrive in this country legally. If these intoxicating and addictive substances may be sold and regulated, it naturally follows that marijuana may be sold in a like fashion.
The broader public policy issue is that people have been using intoxicants for millennia, and they are unlikely to cease the practice now. It is clear, too, that legal status will not deter or incentivize use — Prohibition achieved neither of these goals. Also, there is a great social-justice impact to be made by reforming marijuana laws. Lives can be saved and futures shaped by decriminalization. If such reforms occur, millions of people could avoid involvement with the criminal justice system and have more opportunities to be productive members of their communities and society at large.
Colorado has used its overwhelming tax revenues from legal marijuana to fund antibullying programs and schools and support the homeless. Far from raising crime rates, legalization of marijuana may improve social welfare in a variety of ways. SARAH V. ITZKOFF
Oakland business practices that have pushed criminals out of business and let patients and their doctors make smart decisions. ANDREW R. GROSS
Los Angeles, Calif.
As I read Mike Suley’s letter (Jan. 11, “See for Yourself if You’re a Tax Winner or Loser”), I wondered if his proposal would, in fact, give taxpayers a true picture of the new tax plan and how it directly affects them. Mr. Suley suggested that the PG print a tax calculator presenting the new rates that everyone could then apply to their current income and decide if they will receive a tax reduction.
I would suggest that taxpayers will not get a real picture until they file their 2018 tax returns a year or more from now. At that time, many more individuals and couples will be using the new standard deduction, which is approximately double the amount of the old standard deduction, rather than itemizing.
Like myself and my wife, who have always itemized our deductions, many taxpayers will find that the new standard deduction will be more beneficial by effectively reducing their net taxable income and resulting in a lower tax liability and a larger tax return.
While it is unfortunate that taxpayers have to wait that long to determine the real benefit of the new tax plan, I believe that the larger standard deduction along with the lower tax bracket in which my wife’s and my income will now fall will result in a much smaller income tax burden for us and for many others. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. RICH MARASTI
Robinson