WITH KIDS, DRUGS, VIOLENCE ALL IN MIX, HOW CAN LEGALIZATION BE A
TABOO SUBJECT?

KEVIN CULLEN, in his column "Smoking, guns" (Metro, Oct. 12) correctly
states that a lot of high school kids are using marijuana and that there is
violence associated with marijuana sales. He admits that legalization might
end the violence, but says that that discussion is "taboo."

What?

We need a serious, non-taboo discussion of legalization for precisely the
two reasons he mentions. High school students have more access to dope than
to booze because dealers never check ID. With legalization, you can also
have age regulations, a much more effective way of curbing teen marijuana
use. Likewise, with legalization, you can sell marijuana in nonresidential
businesses that can afford to hire security.

Perhaps, as Cullen suggests, more adults would try marijuana if it were
legalized. But stopping the violence and protecting our children are both
more important than telling adults what they can't choose to consume.
They're also both more important than Cullen's conception of what
discussions are taboo.

Andy Gaus

Boston