LEGALIZING POT

Richmond, B.C. -- It is stupid to jail people for simple possession of
pot. William Johnson (column -- April 28) is quite right to bring the
issue out for debate. But it is also stupid to pretend that pot is
harmless. When inhaled, it is at least as harmful as tobacco, and
stoned drivers are as lethal as are drunk drivers.

If there were a simple non-invasive roadside test for marijuana, as
there is for alcohol, we could make it legal as a controlled
substance. This would get rid of the low-life dealers hanging around
schoolyards, and government could "sin tax" pot the same way it does
cigarettes and booze.

Marilyn Baker