Marijuana use

Two points in regard to your July 2 editorial, "Marijuana Impact New
studies make some troubling discoveries."

First, the science is shoddy. The fact that marijuana raises dopamine
levels just like cocaine and heroin do says absolutely nothing about its
likelihood to lead to the use of other drugs. Anything that causes pleasure
does the same thing. Chocolate has been shown to do the same thing. Is
chocolate, then, a gateway drug as well?

Furthermore, the conditions used in the studies reported are completely
unrealistic, and no conclusions can really be drawn from them which apply
to real use of the drug. The scientists who wrote the articles acknowledge
that there is no basis in these studies for the gateway hypothesis, but the
press, including your paper, seems to be acting as if there were.

Second, whether or not marijuana is dangerous, criminal prohibition of this
substance is impractical and unjustifiable. If we wished to prohibit all
that is dangerous, we should be banning skydiving, cigarettes, fatty foods
and many other things. Prohibition failed with alcohol, and it is failing
now with marijuana. How dangerous the drug actually is has no relevance to
this.

GREG GOLDMAKHER, Dallas