TIME FOR ACTION AFTER FAILED WAR ON DRUG

I STARTED reading the article headlined "Going up in smoke" (Evening
Courier", October 11th) with some interest, given the fact that cannabis
legislation is now a major issue, but oh, what a pathietic item it turned
out to be.

If William Marshall, the author, was trying to be funny, sorry but by
playing on the myth of the amotivated pot-head, he simply ended up writing
line after line of stupid drivel.

Look around you; we have a major problem caused by the drug laws and
something needs to be done. We've had nearly 30 years of a war against
drugs, a policy which has tried to address a social issue by treating the
people at risk as criminals. If nothing else the events of the last week
or so have shown that we've had enough.

Please treat this issue in a serious, informed way in future.

Derek Williams, Pembroke Road, Norwich