Sir, Well done, Estelle Morris! Expelling children from school for
possessing or smoking cannabis is a ridiculously extreme punishment.

It is a nonsense to punish an activity that is illegal because of the
(very small) risk that it may ruin someone's life by taking action
that will certainly ruin that person's life in a far more serious way.

Most teenage children take illegal drugs at some time. The vast
majority are none the worse for it. I do not condone this, any more
than any other illegal activities teenagers get up to, but it is
ridiculous to pretend the facts are otherwise.

The problems of identifying offenders means only the tiny minority
unlucky enough or silly enough to get caught will be expelled. But
logically, if we are to expel any teenage children for this activity,
then surely we should expel all of them.

DAVID WRIGHT
Yew Tree House
Longparish, Andover, Hampshire