WILL'S COLUMN MISSED THE POINT

I'm writing about George F. Will's not-so-thoughtful column:
"'Customers,' not patients" (Nov. 29).

Most drug war cheerleaders proclaim that if marijuana were
re-legalized, pot use would skyrocket. I believe that the Netherlands
example shows that this probably would not happen. The Dutch use
marijuana at less the half the rate American's do. (See
www.drugwarfacts.org ).

But suppose pot use did increase. Suppose pot use by adults
doubled.

Would this necessarily be bad? I submit that it would not. As pot use
increases, alcohol use declines.

Most frequent marijuana users don't drink alcohol, but those who do
drink alcohol drink substantially less than non-marijuana users.

I believe that most doctors would agree that heavy marijuana use is a
lot less harmful than heavy alcohol use. Heavy alcohol use can and
does kill. No amount of marijuana use has ever killed anyone.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.