OPINIONS ON CANNABIS SHOW SELFISH ATTITUDE

Sir,

I felt the letter from Kenneth Toye (The time has come to legalise cannabis
- -- July 26) was completely short-sighted and showed Mr Toye to be downright
greedy. He seemed to be saying that as the Government of the past had
legalised tobacco without realising its fatal effects, it was all right for
the present Government to do the same with cannabis. I am sure that if
anyone could go back in time and stop tobacco ever having the chance to get
a grip on our nation, ruining so many lives, it would do so.

There is no rush to legalise cannabis. Why not wait until we have the
technology that can provide us with the definitive evidence that says
cannabis will not harm us? At the moment, I am reading every week some kind
of report about cancer starting earlier in cannabis users, or memory loss
due to cannabis.

I am 17, and as part of the future of our country, I am devastated that
those who should be responsible and caring cannot wait to sign what could
turn into a death warrant for my peers or my future children.

So Sir, instead of trying to make a right from two wrongs (cannabis and
alcohol) and calling others hypocritical, consider how weak and selfish
your own arguments are.

Lauren James
Needham Market