INTERNET COUNTERS HYSTERIA OF DRUG DEBATE - FOR NOW

Regarding the recent arrest in New Zealand of 66-year-old Progressive
Insurance CEO Peter B. Lewis for drug possession:

I hope the public realizes that even highly successful businessmen can use
marijuana with no more harm to themselves than that of arrest. The only
unfortunate fact is that many of those arrested every 49 seconds for
marijuana use or possession in this country (the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws' figure, based on government statistics),
cannot afford to buy off the U.S. legal system as Lewis appears to have
done in New Zealand.

When will the populace start to learn that marijuana prohibition is a
counterproductive fraud? I look to the local media to be honest with the
people, but the misinformation and hysteria promulgated by the American
government and other self-interested parties since 1937 has created
generations of citizens who are only beginning to learn the truth thanks to
the Internet. I urge all, who possess open minds to consider the
information available at www.druglibrary.org www.norml.org
www.marijuananews.com There is pending legislation, under the guise of a
crackdown on methamphetamine, that could soon make all of the information
carried on these Web sites illegal to transmit. Please go there while the
First Amendment is still in force.

Chris Joseph, Parma