Kids These Days:

I wrote a month ago about the mixed message being sent to Costa Mesa residents through the enforcement of the city’s medical marijuana dispensary ordinance versus the mandate in Proposition 215, which California voters passed in 1996 (“Adult consistency has gone to pot,” March 9).

I also discussed the widespread use of marijuana nationally and in our school district.

This November, California voters have an opportunity to formally legalize weed by voting in favor of a new initiative that would allow adults 21 or older to possess up to an ounce for personal use.

My column a month ago prompted an anonymous response posted on the Daily Pilot’s website by someone claiming to be a police officer.

“As a patrol officer over a decade in Santa Ana, I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that marijuana is not a enforcement priority in O.C. agencies,” this person wrote. “It only becomes a priority when squawking babbling citizens complain to the City Council which then sends an e-mail to the city manager. It’s a waste of time and resources during cutbacks and layoffs. Alcohol is far worse. Over 70% of calls for service are related to alcohol. Not once have I ever encountered a person violent under the influence of marijuana. Legalize/tax it.”

It doesn’t matter to me whether this person is actually a patrol officer in Santa Ana or anywhere else, because the points are valid.

Parents and other guardians of our children often want to focus on educating kids about the dangers of “drugs,” a catch-all term that could include heroin and marijuana.

But as the commentator indicated, there is a far more serious problem with alcohol, which is found in most homes and although it is extremely destructive, is rarely found under lock and key.

Our own home is a good example. I like my cocktail or glass of wine in the evening, and over the years I have been careful to make sure that our two children never see alcohol abused. But this dangerous drug is in a cabinet in a common area of our home, with free and easy access to anyone.

The alcohol is not locked up because our kids know that until they are 21, they are not allowed to drink it. So far, they have not touched the stuff.

But there is another reason. By their actions in other parts of their lives, our kids have earned our trust and so the alcohol remains in a simple cabinet.

Several years ago, I wrote in this space that the nation did not need another drug and that legalizing marijuana was the easy way out to the control we should have over its illegal importation.

But that opinion has changed. Despite spending billions of dollars over the past few decades to prevent marijuana’s importation, we have failed. Marijuana is easy to obtain and so, instead of doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result, it is time to try something new.

Come November, I will vote to legalize marijuana in the state.

I will do so not because we need the tax revenue or because I smoke pot — I don’t and I won’t start if it’s legalized come November.

I will vote to legalize it because I want to put an end to the colossal waste of resources we’ve committed to trying to stamp out marijuana.

I’m not happy about legalizing another mind-altering drug and sending that message to our children.

I wish that marijuana never existed. But it does, and our focus should now be on trying a new tactic to see if it works. After all, the only sure way to determine whether legalized marijuana is bad idea is to legalize it.

And if legalizing it doesn’t work, we can always go back to the war on drugs. Next time around, though, this parent is going to insist on including alcohol.

STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer. Send story ideas to dailypilot@latimes.com .