Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Letter to the editor:

Marijuana doesn’t mix with education

Another view?

View more of the Las Vegas Sun's opinion section:

Editorials - the Sun's viewpoint.

Columnists - local and syndicated writers.

Letters to the editor - readers' views.

Have your own opinion? Write a letter to the editor.

As a former educator, I am horrified that the Legislature is considering legalizing recreational marijuana to fund education. What a disgrace. I offer a far more viable and child-friendly alternative to funding education.

A state lottery will produce the same revenue without the harmful effects.

I moved here from Virginia, a state with an excellent reputation for education. Virginia has a state lottery that funds education.

The Virginia lottery website states, “When it comes to education, the Virginia lottery generates more than $1.3 million per day for Virginia’s K-12 public schools. ... In fiscal year 2012, the Virginia lottery generated more than $487.1 million for Virginia’s public schools.”

Nevada embraces all forms of gambling, now including online gambling. Why it shies away from a state lottery is beyond my comprehension. Why should Arizona and California profit from lottery tickets purchased by Nevadans? This doesn’t make sense. Gambling is our business.

My suggestion is to implement a state lottery in Nevada that will solely fund education.

If you choose to legalize marijuana, don’t partner it with the education of our children; partner it with community outreach to provide more funding for mental health, domestic abuse and substance abuse programs.

Trust me, you are going to need them.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy