Legalize Marijuana

The following letters to the editor are in response to Jan Ramsey’s blog post “Have A Brain: Legalize Marijuana.”—ED.

Marijuana consumers deserve and demand equal rights and protections under our laws that are currently afforded to the drinkers of far more dangerous and deadly, yet perfectly legal, widely accepted, endlessly advertised and even glorified as an all-American pastime, alcohol.

It’s time for us, the majority, to take back control of our national marijuana policy by voting out of office any and all politicians who very publicly and vocally admit to having an anti-marijuana prohibitionist agenda.

The “war on marijuana” has been a complete and utter failure. It is the largest component of the broader yet equally unsuccessful “war on drugs” that has cost our country over a trillion dollars.

The prohibition of marijuana has also ruined the lives of many of our loved ones. In numbers greater than any other nation, our loved ones are being sent to jail and are being given permanent criminal records. Especially if they happen to be of the “wrong” skin color or happen to be from the “wrong” neighborhood.

Marijuana legalization nationwide is an inevitable reality that’s approaching much sooner than prohibitionists think, and there is nothing they can do to stop it. There is absolutely no doubt now that the majority of Americans want to completely legalize marijuana nationwide. The prohibitionist view on marijuana is the viewpoint of a minority and rapidly shrinking percentage of Americans. It is based upon decades of lies and propaganda.

Each and every tired old lie they have propagated has been thoroughly proven false by both science and society.

—Brian Kelly, Grass Valley, California

So glad you were able to keep OffBeat going during and after the pandemic. Out here in Albuquerque, I did my first gig in over a year last week. Our clubs, restaurants, breweries, etc. were closed for so long and now only open to 25 percent.

This month, our governor signed into law legal marijuana for New Mexico. I smoke occasionally and was glad to see this happen for many reasons. I hope Louisiana does the same, but really wish the federal government would make it legal for all the states.

—Sally Townes, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Digital OffBeat

I travel a lot. The digital copy is best for me. Thank you very much. OffBeat is a great magazine. Bravo to all involved in its production.

—William Cone, Federal Way, Washington

Mardi Gras Indian Culture

I’m so disheartened by your cover this month.

You should be ashamed with your headline dividing the Mardi Gras Indian culture on the cover this month. And creating more animosity within a legendary New Orleans family

during a pandemic that has almost eviscerated live music in this city. I’d be speechless if I weren’t so angry and shocked. Good thing I don’t have to get mad reading the article because I’m certainly not subscribing to your magazine.

—Carolyn Croom Freeman, New Orleans, Louisiana

We regret that you did not read the story before passing judgment. One of the fundamentals of journalism is a reporter’s duty to precisely report what he or she is told by interview subjects, unfiltered and without bias. Freelance writer John Swenson approached the Boudreaux family—Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, son Joseph Jr. and grandson J’Wan— with the expectation of reporting on a multigenerational musical collaboration between an elder of the Black Masking Indians and his progeny, whose band Cha Wa is inspired by this revered New Orleans tradition. Instead, Swenson encountered a family rift that exposes long-running conflicts within a sacred cultural practice that has become increasingly commercialized. Who “owns” the language of Black Mardi Gras Indians, and who stands to profit from trademarks? We commend Swenson for following this story down a path he least expected and bringing it to OffBeat’s readers. We hope that the Boudreaux family might find a path to reconciliation after reading their own comments.—Ed.