MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The Dangers Of Pot Are Not The Real Issue

I'd like to state that it is not necessary to accept all of Kevin Nelson's
statistics ("Legalizing pot would be less harmful than the ban," Northwest
Voice, June 18) in order to share his opposition to marijuana prohibition.

Nelson says, "Tobacco kills 450,000 Americans per year, alcohol 125,000,
marijuana 0."

How does Nelson know that nobody ever dies in traffic accidents due to
impaired driving ability as a result of smoking marijuana?

And how does Nelson know that long-term, frequent smoking of marijuana
cannot possibly cause or contribute to the development of serious lung
disease? Nevertheless, it might still be true that marijuana is much less
harmful than alcohol or tobacco, and, in my opinion, it's a better high
than alcohol. (Tobacco is no high at all, as far as I'm concerned.)

More importantly, however, I oppose marijuana prohibition on the simple
libertarian grounds that it is not any of the government's or society's
business how people choose to relax and enjoy themselves in the privacy of
their homes.

Lou Rollins, Port Townsend