ANOTHER REASON TO MAKE CANNABIS LEGAL AGAIN

Cannabis activist Dan Linn hit the bull's-eye ["Legalize cannabis so it can
be taxed and regulated," Daily Gazette, Jan. 14] calling to re-legalize
cannabis; but one important reason doesn't get mentioned.

Re-legalizing the relatively safe, socially acceptable, God-given
plant would lower deadly, hard-drug addiction rates by eliminating
lies, half-truths and propaganda in drug awareness education.

How many citizens try cannabis and realize it's not nearly as harmful
as taught in Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) type government
environments? Then they think other substances must not be so bad
either, only to become addicted to deadly drugs.

The old lessons make cannabis out to be among the worst substances in
the world, even though it's never killed a single person. The federal
government even classifies cannabis as a Schedule I substance along
with heroin, while methamphetamine and cocaine are only Schedule II
substances.

For the health and welfare of America's children and adults, that
message absolutely must change. When citizens may purchase cannabis
from regulated sources, they will not come into contact with people
who often also sell hard drugs, which will lower hard drug addiction
rates. Further, cannabis even has a history of being used to help
people escape hard-drug addictions.

Stan White

Dillon, Colo.