THE TRUTH ABOUT "DEADLY DOPE"

Your story on cannabis is based on alarmist speculation with only a
modicum of science (Deadly Dope 1/11/98). Cannabinoids were
prescribed by doctors for over a hundred years and have not been shown
to cause depression. In fact cannabis might be a good treatment in
certain cases.

The evidence for cannabis being stronger of late is slim, and even if
true, smokers would just need less to obtain the same 'high', and with
fewer impurities.

Cannabis has risks which users should know about. Respiratory
complications and dependency are likely to be less common when the
drug is available legally in a carefully regulated manner as in Holland.

Yours faithfully,

Andrew Byrne ..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr Andrew Byrne,
General Practitioner, Drug and Alcohol, 75 Redfern Street, Redfern,
New South Wales, 2016, Australia Tel (61 - 2) 9319 5524 Fax 9318 0631
Email ajbyrne@ozemail.com.au ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady