POT POSES NO THREAT

Re: "Hypocrisy grows like a weed" (Froma Harrop's Thursday column):

If health determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana
would be legal.

Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose
death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco.
Marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate
and ineffective as deterrents.

Marijuana prohibition has also failed miserably as a deterrent. The
U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where
marijuana is legally available to adults over 18. The only clear
winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels and shameless
tough-on-drugs politicians who have built careers confusing the drug
war's collateral damage with a relatively harmless plant.

Robert Sharpe,

Common Sense for Drug Policy,

Washington, D.C.