TOKERS IN GOOD COMPANY

Re: Were drugs the source of the Bard's inspiration? March 2.

If Shakespeare was indeed a marijuana smoker he's in good company. Along
with millions of mainstream North Americans, marijuana smokers and former
tokers include such luminaries as Louis Armstrong, Carl Sagan, 60 per cent
of the NBA (per Toronto Raptor forward Charles Oakley), Bill Gates and Bill
Clinton. Of course, Bill Clinton did not inhale. Apparently marijuana
smoke did not prevent any of these people from leading productive lives,
though a prison sentence and criminal record surely would have. I think
it's safe to say that U.S. President George W. Bush would not be in the
White House right now if he had been arrested for his "youthful
indiscretions." It's time to repeal outdated, punitive marijuana laws.

Robert Sharpe Washington, D.C.