NO NEED TO CHANGE WINNING FORMULA

Sir, - Re the letter from William Jennings (Drugs facts refute Opperman
opinions, EADT, July 19).

Mr Jennings writes an exceedingly good letter, and I would agree almost
entirely with his comments regarding cannabis and the somewhat dated and
rather irregular laws which surround it and attempt to control the use of it.

There are just a couple of points which bring a small doubt to my mind
regarding the full legalisation of the substance.

The first is the fact that cannabis, at the present time, is actually a
barrier, a harmless drug which is illegal but widely used.

If we legalise cannabis, there is a possibility that cocaine or heroin will
become the replacement "soft drug" and we may then see calls to legalise
either of the above, in which case where do we stop?

My second point is that cannabis is already widely available, reasonably
cheap to purchase, and rarely considered a serious crime, so why change a
winning formula?

We would allow the already greed-infested government yet another chance to
tax another enjoyable pastime to the hilt, and within months we would see a
black market equal to that which already exists.

One other small point - if cannabis is legalised, we must see a drug test
for drivers introduced. Too many people who are perfectly sober are driving
whilst under the influence of a variety of other drugs. This issue must be
addressed.

BOB DARVELL, Cordell Road, Long Melford