PICK THEIR POISON

Great Column by Jim Hightower on America's insane drug policy!
(Playground Prozac," April 14). There is a reason why our leaders see
fit to seize hemp birdseed at the Canadian border while turning a
blind eye to toddlers on psychoactive drugs. The goal of a drug free
society that so many politicians claim to be working towards only
applies to certain drugs. Specifically, natural drugs which cannot be
patented by the pharmaceutical industry, one of the most powerful
lobbies in Washington. New lifestyle drugs are routinely granted
fast-track F.D.A. approval, while marijuana, which has been used
medicinally and recreationally for thousands of years, allegedly
requires further research studies. In the short time the blatantly
recreational drug Viagra has been on the market, it has already killed
more people than marijuana, a relatively harmless drug whose
pharmacological qualities have never been shown to cause a death.
Nationwide, cancer and AIDS patients are being locked up at taxpayers'
expense for smoking medical marijuana, while toddlers are prescribed
psychoactive drugs like Prozac and Ritilin. It is unfortunate for the
millions of people who might benefit from medical marijuana that the
plant is an easily grown weed instead of a highly profitable patent
medicine. One need only follow the money trail to find out why a
given policy exists.

Robert Sharpe,
Students for Sensible Drug Policy,
George Washington University Washington, D.C.