To the editor:

Michael Harris's inane lament (The Daily News, April 4) about
legalizing marijuana ignores the fact that the things that are killing
us are drug prohibition laws and their effects. For example, there was
no such thing as "drug related crime" before drug prohibition went on
the books. The result of our ill-considered drug laws has become a
disaster greater than alcohol prohibition.

The solution to our drug problems is to legalize their use by adults
and to offer treatment for those who want it.

It's time to apply a little common sense to drug policy. Lancet, the
prestigious British medical journal, has said, "The smoking of
cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health." Moreover, every
major U.S. and Canadian study of marijuana has concluded that cannabis
should be decriminalized. No serious student of cannabis still
believes the Reefer Madness accusations that marijuana causes violence
and insanity.

Marijuana laws are based on Reefer Madness myths so ridiculous that
even prohibitionists now admit they are pure fiction. Why does Michael
Harris think enforcing laws based on lies can do any good?

Redford Givens San Francisco Via the Internet