QUESTIONS OF FACT

Re "Don't legalize marijuana," Opinion, Jan. 28

Skip Miller of D.A.R.E. America is entitled to his arcane opinions
about marijuana, but his distortions of the truth are
unacceptable.

Miller conveniently cites one physician's opinion that marijuana leads
to cancer, but this belief is contradicted by research. Federally
funded research on marijuana's health effects conducted at UCLA found
that marijuana smoking does not lead to lung cancer. Moreover, a 2009
study published in the Cancer Prevention Research journal found that
marijuana smokers actually have a lower risk of head and neck cancers
than people who don't smoke marijuana.

Also, by comparing the societal costs of alcoholism, Miller tries to
show that ending marijuana prohibition would bring on similar costs.
But there's one major flaw in his reasoning: Marijuana is safer than
alcohol, by every objective measure.

Miller and his prohibitionist ilk need to get their facts
straight.

F. Aaron Smith

Santa Rosa, Calif.

The writer is California policy director for the Marijuana Policy
Project.