Linda Williamson's attempt to explain her harmful screed, "Reefer madness?" (Aug. 13), is just a continuation of her earlier rant. Her cliche-ridden backtracking still plays fast and loose with the facts, and it reflects negatively on her credibility and that of the Toronto Sun.

Marijuana prohibition is not a trivial matter, as her comments seem to imply, but instead an extremely harmful malaise that has resulted in millions of arrests and jailings in North America alone.

The cruel and immoral suppression of medical use has caused untold human suffering.

Marijuana prohibition is a counterproductive fraud that will never work. It's time to get past it, and to get past the ignorant ponderings of reporters like Williamson, who unwittingly play into the hands of prohibitionist lies by propagating the myths used to justify this cruel attack on fellow humans who choose to employ this beneficial herb.

Gary Storck

Madison, Wis.

(It's specially beneficial to the growers)