DON'T LET DRUG DEALERS DRAG OUR KIDS INTO HELL

Legalise cannabis? No way! I speak as a mum who lost her son after a
long, hard battle against drugs.

He died of a heroin overdose. Only another mother will understand my
anguish at having been unable to save him. I now fear for my other two
children.

We are in hell - and the dealers put us here. I would warn other
youngsters not to touch cannabis.

Mrs Gillian Bond, Farnborough, Hants.

It is ridiculous that in a society faced with so many drugs, drink and
tobacco, we arbitrarily choose to tax some and spend millions failing to
control others.

Either prohibit all drugs (which would clearly cause riots) or be sensible,
legalise pot and take millions from the pockets of the drug dealers to put
in the pockets of that other bunch of crooks, the Government.

Nick Pearce, Lancaster

I suffer from multiple sclerosis. There is evidence that smoking cannabis
relieves some of my symptoms. But even though I am not interested in using
the drug I know many of my fellow sufferers would like to try it. Some, I
know, use cannabis illegally. For this reason I believe cannabis should be
legalised.

Spencer Arnott, Holmer Green, Bucks

NO, I don't think cannabis should be legalised. Both my brothers have been
in prison due to drugs and they started on cannabis.

One went on to become a heroin addict. Thankfully, he is in rehab. I
smoked cannabis aged 15 to 17 which led me to take LSD, speed and ecstasy.
Fortunately I moved town and stopped but it could easily have been me in
rehab, too.

Sandra Holt, Rochdale, Lancs

CANNABIS should be legalised because it is already in common use by the
younger generation. I have smoked it for around a year and think it is
better than drinking as the after-effects are a lot less harsh.

Dan Muir, Hillsea, Hants.

WE were clueless about drugs until dealers moved into our quiet cul-de-sac
and we saw people who smoked pot going on to harder drugs.

I cried when I saw young men driving up, buying their stuff, then using it
in public. We made it difficult for the dealers to work and eventually
they moved out.

JAS, Bristol

DRUG CSAR Keith Hellawell has certainly not helped in the fight against our
young people becoming addicts. The only sense spoken in the Sun's article
quoting him was by the heroin users.

Most parents of Class-A drug users know their children progressed from
cannabis. Instead of making useless remarks, Hellawell should get our
children more treatment.

Janet Groves, Drugs Anonymous Movement, Telford.

I GREW cannabis to help my father who had arthritis. It was a success
until the police found out. Now I have a criminal record. Prohibition
never works as history shows.

It encourages black market dealing and creates unnecessary danger.

Daniel Becker, Peckham, London

I HAVE smoked cannabis for nine years and although I have been to many
dealers I have never been offered anything other than what i wanted. Even
cannabis dealers hold smackheads in contempt. I have a good job, am
law-abiding and happy, but I'm classed as a law-breaker because I relax
with a joint.

We should legalise cannabis, tax it, and stop persecuting people.

A.K Hanley, Staffs.

AS a mother of a 19-year-old heroin addict, I wish Government Ministers
would live in our house for a week.

Until a year ago my daughter was a lovely girl who I knew had smoked
pot. Now our life is a nightmare. Legalise pot? No way.

Mrs G S Egremont, Cumbria

YOU QUOTE heroin addict Laura from Peterhead as saying: "You can bet your
life that every heroin addict started out with cannabis."

Well, I'm willing to bet that the first drug tried by virtually every
addict is either tobacco or alcohol - legal but drugs all the same.

Graham Wynne, Kirkby Lonsdale, Lancs.

IF cannabis was legalised, resources could then go into tackling the real
drug problems of heroin and crack cocaine instead of wasting time and money
on busting dope dealers.

Mrs Katrina Copeland, Dumfirmline, Fife

IF smoking cannabis REALLY led to harder drugs, we would have a Government
full of crack-smoking, heroin-injecting MPs - and while their behaviour is
certainly odd, they're not that bad.

C. Hunter, Penwortham, Lancs.

Many thanks to The Sun for publishing the Britain's Drug Crisis
series. trying to legalise cannabis is courting disaster. After all, for
300 years they told us tobacco was safe.

Mark Seymour-Taylor, Willesden Green, NW London.