TOUGH MARIJUANA LAWS HAVEN'T WORKED

Editor, Times-Dispatch: I completely agree with you that legal drugs such
as OxyContin are abused. Every pharmaceutical since the Pharoahs has been
abused by someone. For that matter so have gasoline and cleaning fluid. I
lived in the Netherlands in the mid-Nineties. "Soft" drugs such as
marijuana and hashish are not legal but are not persecuted, either. They
are readily available on the menus in the many coffee houses in Rotterdam
and Amsterdam. There is no underground market for these drugs. There are no
"pot" gangs. Not everyone in Holland is a stoner because of the semi-legal
status of these drugs. Not everyone in the U.S. is a drunk because booze is
legal. No one has ever overdosed on Mary Jane.

These are facts, not theories.

Though I don't partake myself, I see no logic in the 80-year persecution of
"Killer Reefer." It has worked just as well as alcohol prohibition. It has
cost trillions that could have been used for medical research, highways, or
something productive

Are we still Puritans? History tells us bear-baiting was banned by them. It
was not for the sake of the bear, however; it was banned because people
enjoyed it too much. I see a lesson there!

Craig Gilkison. hopewell.