DRUG PROHIBITION IS NO PROTECTION

Rosa Harris-Adler opined that the observations of the Le Dain
Commission on the spiritual role cannabis played in the hippie
sub-culture were "innocent-sounding." ("Pot debate finally reaching a
high point," Aug. 27).

Entheogenic plants such as peyote, ayahuasca, psilocybin mushrooms
and cannabis have always been and will continue to be used as
powerful and valuable spiritual tools.

Alas, entheogens will also continue to be abused and used for less
thoughtful purposes, all the more so while they remain under the
control of gangsters and teenagers.

We baby boomers, having survived the 1960s and 1970s, should
understand the folly of drug prohibition most of all. It did not
protect us, it did not protect our children and there is no reason to
believe it will protect our grandchildren.

Matthew M. Elrod

Victoria