Here’s a tough question: If you are hitting yourself on the head with a spatula and are complaining because it hurts, what should you do? Answer: Stop it!

If the citizenry wants to save General Motors, what should we do? Answer: Buy a Chevy!

And the million dollar question today: If over 6,300 people were killed last year on the Mexican border trying to smuggle drugs into the U.S., how can we stop it? Answer: duh … Nobody seems to know.

Eighty percent of the drugs brought into the U.S. through Mexico are marijuana. I am watching the President, the Congress, the columnists and the TV pundits babble … maybe we should legalize it? Maybe we should send the army to the border? Maybe we should build a higher wall?

Am I wrong or is it illegal to grow and sell and smoke marijuana in the U.S.? Where is the outrage among the politicians, the movie industry, the rock stars and the general public that they readily lash out at cigarette smokers, polluters and developers? Where is the public shame, the protest marches? The dots are easy to connect.

The naked answer to stopping the rampant killing along the border is … quit smoking marijuana.

In an effort to defend its use in spite of the death and destruction it wreaks trying to supply us, supporters fill the air with an obfuscating shrapnel of responses including, “It’s less harmful than alcohol, it’s not addictive, it’s good for you, it doesn’t lead to meth, cocaine or heroine use, I don’t inhale,” etc., ad infinitum.

Let us say that all these reasons given by those who would call themselves potheads are valid, but one big truth remains; if you want to stop the killing and bloodshed, stop buying marijuana. And if the humanitarian answer is not enough, remember it is illegal.

The laws against drunk driving, robbing convenience stores, smoking cigarettes in public and cheating on your income tax are enforced. It is possible some of these crimes are never committed by the majority of people because it is against the law?

The decision is in the hands of the user. It is obvious that our leaders don’t want to offend users, pushers, dealers and/or growers, so it is up to you, up to us. If you want to make it legal, work on that but resist breaking the law until then. Read the news stories about the continuing border slaughter, the deaths, the ruined lives created just so you can have a toke and get mellow.

If it is not addictive … just say, no! Cheech and Chong don’t look as cool as they used to, do they? ANM