THE KIND BUD

In response to the Dec. 5 article "Researchers Say Smoking Pot Not
Always Path to Hard Drug Use": The results of this study are hardly
shocking. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has funded similar
studies in which the government hoped to reinforce some of their
"facts" about smoking marijuana.

A recent study at UCLA found that there was no link between smoking
marijuana and lung cancer. Dr. Donald Tashkin, a UCLA pulmonologist
who has studied marijuana for 30 years, said in a Washington Post
article in May, "We hypothesized that there would be a positive
association between marijuana use and lung cancer and that the
association would be more positive with heavier use, What we found
instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some
protective effect."

More and more we are seeing that the myths surrounding the use of
marijuana are being debunked. It's time to get rid of the social
stigma and criminal records associated with its use.

Joe Province

Shaler