ADOPT DIFFERENT STRATEGY TO COMBAT POT USE

Propaganda-laden "hit pieces" on the alleged dangers of cannabis use
will do little to discourage teens from experimenting with pot, just
as similar campaigns by federal authorities have also failed to
demonstrably reduce teen drug use ("Caution: Marijuana may not be
lesser evil," Cover story, Life, Tuesday).

Rather than continue down this failed path, federal officials ought to
take a page from their more successful campaigns discouraging drunken
driving and teen tobacco smoking, both of which have fallen
dramatically since the mid-1990s.

America has not achieved these results by arbitrarily outlawing the
use of alcohol or tobacco, or by targeting and arresting adults who
use these products responsibly, but through honest, health- and
science-based education campaigns.

Until we as a nation apply these same principles to our educational
efforts regarding marijuana, there will be little change in either
teens' perceptions of pot or their patterns of marijuana use.

Paul Armentano, senior policy analyst

NORML and the NORML Foundation

Washington