Sound Off is a public forum. Articles are selected from letters to the editor or may be written specifically for this feature. Today, Trent Blackburn responds to a Guest Opinion suggesting a different approach to dealing with marijuana laws.

I appreciated the marijuana opinion written by Kathleen Taylor from the ACLU (“Marijuana: It’s time for a serious conversation,” May 14).

I was a drug counselor in the California Youth Authority system in the 1970s and I cringe when I see news of yet another prison being built in our country, already with one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world.

The Europeans really have a superior approach with their “harm-reduction” orientation.

Our solution? Build more jails.