Marijuana Policy Project

I'm sorry to hear that Phil Drake's neighborhood is troubled by secret marijuana growing operations ("Residential pot busts becoming chronic," April 22). There's a reason this is happening, and there's an easy way to stop it.

When was the last time you heard of suburban homes being used to secretly grow wine grapes? There's no need because wine production is legally regulated. We should treat marijuana the same way.

A recent study found that marijuana is California's number one cash crop, despite decades of "eradication" efforts. These futile law enforcement efforts simply guarantee that marijuana will be produced in the riskiest possible conditions.

Let's regulate marijuana like alcohol.

Bruce Mirken, Marijuana Policy Project, Washington, D.C.