SLIPPERY SLOPE OF LEGALISED CANNABIS

In your report, "Tests show pot is 'addictive as heroin'" (October
16), the researchers reach their conclusions because monkeys quickly
learned to give themselves a "hit" and "became more interested in
taking the drug" when the dose was increased.

I'm not arguing either way about the legalisation of cannabis, but if
you were confined for life in a cage, with an intravenous drip
inserted into some part of your body, would you not regard regular
"highs" as a welcome relief from your miserable existence? I would.

CHRISTOPHER A. SMITH,
6 Glebe Road, Harrogate,
North Yorkshire HG2 0LZ.

I have never smoked cannabis, but it occurred to me that if the
monkeys were out of their natural habitat, they might do all kinds of
things they would not do otherwise. In similar test conditions could
they also become addicted to, say, strawberry jam?

BRIAN LEE,
104 Woodfield Road,
Hadleigh, Essex SS7 2ET.