LIES NOT EFFECTIVE

The Dec. 23 article "Billboards aim to snuff teen use of marijuana" would
have been funny if the Partnership for a Drug Free America wasn't such a
sad group. Kids have a sixth sense when it comes to sniffing out hypocrites.

How effective can those billboards be when it is obvious that our president
and vice president were pot smokers? Carl Sagan was a pot smoker, and he
was no dummy.

If we tell the truth, kids might listen. Our own government provides
medical marijuana to patients. Government studies have called cannabis a
low-risk substance.

The PDFA claims success in a 1.5 percent decrease in teen pot use. The
margin for error was greater than that and teen use of ecstasy is
skyrocketing. Drugs are easier to get than alcohol and cheaper and more
potent than ever. This is success?

If they had truly asked any half-educated pot smoker "to come up with
something clever for this billboard" the reply would have been, "Stop the
War on Drugs. Duh."

Allan Erickson

Eugene, Ore.