In our September issue, writer David Moller attacked the campaign to
legalize cannabis and set about dispelling the myths often used to
bolster the argument for a relaxation of the law.

"Cannabis: the Truth" provoked a strong response, both from correspondents
who agreed with our article and from those who challenged its tough stance.
In particular, Reader's Digest was bombarded with more than 100 e-mails
after a North America pro-cannabis group posted our article on its website
and urged its followers to write to us.

Typically, Jerry Epstein of Houston, Texas, says, "In many years of
reviewing the literature on drugs, 'Cannabis: the Truth' was one of the
worst I have ever encountered. From start to finish it was biased and
inaccurate," while Alan Randell from Victoria, British Columbia, asserts
that "free adults have the right to ingest any substance, whether or not it
is harmful".

Decriminalizing cannabis could benefit the whole of society, argues
British reader Mark Breingan from Glasgow. "Government statistics show
that as much as 8.5 per cent of the population use cannabis regularly.
If it were legalized and taxed at the same rate as cigarettes, the
Government might net as much as UKP3,500 million - money that could be
used to fight hard drugs like heroin. At present, all the money goes
into the pockets of criminals."

Many of you, however, are utterly convinced that the laws on cannabis
should never be relaxed. Writes Louise Heaton of Carlisle: "My brother died
from lung cancer caused by smoking. If ordinary cigarettes can destroy a
life, stronger drugs must potentially be more harmful. Life is too short to
squander, yet young people are under tremendous pressure to smoke. The law
must be more, not less, harsh, to discourage children from smoking drugs."

Says one reader from Glasgow, who asked not to be named,: "My family
knows only too well how dangerous cannabis is. Last year my
20-year-old son had to be committed to the secure unit of the local
psychiatric hospital, suffering from schizophrenia. He admitted he had
smoked cannabis since he was 14. During this time he maintained that
cannabis did no harm and wasn't addictive. He now believes it
contributed to his illness.

Joan Beadle of Bournemouth has an even more tragic tale to tell. "When
my son started using cannabis at the age of 22, I was totally ignorant
of the devastation it would cause. Like so many others, I believed
that cannabis was harmless, and my son, a university student, was just
going through a phase.

"For the last two years of his life, he suffered from a severe mental
illness, culminating in his suicide at the age of 25. His doctor told
me: 'If he had never taken cannabis this would probably never have
happened.'"

Lisa Kelly from Blackpool has also seen the effects of cannabis at
close quarters. "I once dated someone who used it all day, every day.
I found myself unable to get to know this man because the cannabis had
completely doped him up. When you talk to a person on drugs, you are
talking to the drug, not the person.

Some of you maintain that cannabis can hardly be called a dangerous
drug when compared with drink. "I work for an alcohol agency as a
counsellor and have seen the devastation caused to whole families by
the abuse of alcohol," Joan Lewis of Cardiff tells us. "I ask two
questions: How many people died from smoking cannabis last year? How
many dies from alcohol-related illness?"

Several of you believe that cannabis has pain-relieving qualities and
medicinal for diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Aids and
Parkinson's disease. "Since 1992 I have successfully used marijuana to
treat severe pain caused by a spinal injury," says Sue Byrd from Cave
Junction, Oregon. "Unfortunately, my husband was sent to jail for
giving it to me."

Others are sceptical. Margaret Geddes from south London is a nurse who
suffers from multiple sclerosis. "I have been put under pressure by my
family to try the 'healing properties' of the drug," she writes. "I
have not succumbed, as I believe cannabis is addictive and dangerous."
She is not swayed by a relative who is a regular cannabis user. "She
doesn't think it is harmful in any way. I can't believe that when I
hear her incoherent language and see her glazed eyes and poor gait
whenever she is 'stoned'."

Daniel McInnes of Southampton draws on his own unhappy experience of
cannabis when warning his seven-year-old daughter not to try drugs.
"After 30 years, I still vividly remember the awful feeling of
depression and sickness. In retrospect, I wonder why I put myself
through it. One thing, though: it made me decide to give up the
dreaded weed - tobacco - for good!"

Thank you for writing.