CHALLENGING PROHIBITION COURAGEOUS

YOU IMPLY IN your editorial, "Setting the standards ( ODT , 26.1.01), that
those in favour of cannabis law reform are cowards. Yet, surely, it takes
great courage to challenge the entrenched dogma of the establishment.
Indeed, many people who are privately pro-cannabis are too fearful to be so
in public. Therefore it is significant that the Minister of Youth Affairs,
Laila Harre, has expressed support for the legalisation of cannabis use by
adults, despite the opprobrious response she subsequently received.

You also state that many teenagers and children "indulge" in cannabis, a
view shared collectively by the teaching profession which gives the
impression that cannabis use is rife within our schools. I attend high
school and have yet to see anyone fall asleep in class, smoke a joint or be
obviously "out-of-it".

J. Kearney, Dalmore

[Abridged. - Ed.]