DRUG DANGER

Your report (Doctors urge use of overdose drug, 23/3) said leading doctors,
including Alex Wodak, chief of alcohol and drug services at St Vincent's
Hospital in Sydney, proposed not just decriminalisation of cannabis but
legalisation.

This concerns me and should concern parents throughout Australia. If these
people, who must have access to tests carried out by other doctors such as
John Anderson of Westmead Hospital in Sydney, are proposing such
legislation, then we need to review drug education in this country.

There are many groups that will grab this report to use it as justification
for their own calls for such legislation. Anybody who believes that
cannabis is not a dangerous drug should approach organisations such as Teen
Challenge or the How to Drugproof your Kids movement. Cannabis plays havoc
with reproductive organs, respiratory organs and the heart. It can produce
a change in personality and behaviour in heavy users.

It is not a cigarette with a bigger kick; it is considerably more dangerous
than that and use of this drug must never be decriminalised, much less
legalised.

Terry Ryan
Thornlie