Mr. Sforza’s column (“A Joint Rolled Is a Body Buried,” Daily Nexus, April 22) is a fundamentally flawed, though well intended, article. Mr. Sforza obviously cares about the suffering innocents in Mexico, but seeks to alleviate their suffering by guilt-tripping UCSB’s rather large stoner demographic into putting down their pipes.
In his righteous anger, Mr. Sforza mischaracterizes Mexican drug industries. Yes, marijuana is a portion of the drug traffic coming out of Mexico, but it pales in comparison to the sheer volume and profitability of cocaine and heroin flowing out of the country.
But let’s assume Mr. Sforza is correct. Instead of quitting marijuana cold turkey, UCSB students should be smarter about where they get their cannabis. I do not endorse marijuana usage, but I realize that asking UCSB students to stop blazing away is like standing on the banks of the River Thames and asking the tide to turn back. Instead, UCSB students should apply the same standards for their ganja that they do for their vegetables and buy local and organic. After all, weed does grow like, well, a weed. Plenty of enterprising individuals will step in to fill this new gap. Buying local lets the prospective potheads control their spirit herbs to a greater extent and supports local business too. Sure, it might be a bit more expensive, but an extra $20 for a lid is a cheap price to pay to stop Mr. Sforza from shaming you into oblivion.