CANNABIS POLICY

Sir - Professor Fergusson (May 15) is misguided in his claim that giving
cannabis the legal status of alcohol and tobacco is dangerous.

As counterintuitive as it may seem, legalising cannabis would go a long way
towards protecting New Zealand's youth. If New Zealand is anything like the
United States, children have an easier time buying cannabis than beer. Drug
dealers do not ID for age.

While there is nothing inherent in the cannabis plant that compels users to
try harder drugs, its black-market status puts users in contact with
unscrupulous individuals who push harder drugs. Cannabis prohibition is, in
effect, a gateway drug policy.

Given that cannabis is increasingly recognised as being safer than alcohol
or tobacco - it is impossible to die from a cannabis overdose - why not end
cannabis prohibition? The answer, of course, is culture. The cannabis leaf
represents the counterculture to those who would like to turn the clock back
to the 1950s.

ROBERT SHARPE, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, George Washington
University Washington, DC