NOTHING HAS CHANGED

In a recent column ("Should parents drug test their teens?" Nov. 28),
Lauren Forcella casually states that "pot is 10-25 times stronger
today" than it was in "the '60s, '70s and '80s." By doing so, she
joins the legions of lazy reporters and columnists who routinely
repeat the potency falsehood that has become the cornerstone of the
government's claims about the dangers of marijuana.

In a recent study, the University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring
Project determined that the average THC in domestically grown
marijuana -- which comprises the bulk of the U.S. market -- is less
than 5 percent, a figure that's remained unchanged for decades.

Ms. Forcella has a master's degree in interdisciplinary consciousness
studies, so she should be aware how necessary it is to protect
science against erosion from political agendas, such as the
government's war on marijuana. Given her advanced education, she has
no legitimate excuse for repeating unsubstantiated claims as fact.

Walter F. Wouk

Summit, N.Y.