YOUR RESPONSE to Jim Mountford's letter on whether marijuana leads to
harder drugs simply restates a fact that he doesn't deny (that hard drug
addicts used marijuana first) and misses his point entirely. ROUND UP ALL
THE HEROIN AND CRACK ADDICTS AND THEY'LL ALSO TELL YOU that their first
taste of anything was milk. If your line of reasoning works when applied to
marijuana use, it also shows that milk leads to heroin and crack addiction!

(The example is a standard one in introductory college courses in science
and critical thinking. Perhaps the person who writes your editorial
comments should consider signing up.)

Julie Colterjohn

(Took the course. Heard of the "gateway theory.")

YOUR REMARK to Jim Mountford's letter was truncated, perhaps in error:
"Round up the heroin and crack addicts. They'll all tell you their first
taste of drugs was pot." You forgot to include coffee, tobacco and beer. In
fact, no doubt most of them still abuse these drugs even as they use
cocaine and heroin. Think about it.

Gerald M. Sutliff

(Let me get a coffee first.)