POSITIONS ON POT, TOBACCO SHOW THE GOP'S HYPOCRISY

Although I have been a registered Republican for 45 years, I am disgusted
with the party's policy on marijuana and tobacco.

When the citizens of Washington, D.C., overwhelmingly voted to legalize the
use of marijuana for medical reasons last fall, congressional Republicans
refused to allow the results to be announced until they were forced to by a
court order.

These representatives are now threatening to write language into the
District's appropriations bill that would forbid implementation of that
initiative.

These are many of the same Republicans who protect tobacco interests in
Congress, while gleefully accepting millions of dollars in campaign and soft
money contributions from that industry.

Somehow they appear to believe that it is all right to smoke a drug that
causes cancer, but not to smoke a similar drug that helps ease the pain of
cancer, AIDS and other diseases.

I wonder how their opinions would change if marijuana kingpins could legally
mimic the large campaign contributions tobacco kingpins provide.

John H. O'Hara, Bowie