TIME TO MOVE PAST MISINFORMATION

Misinformation about marijuana is still rampant in society. In a
Thursday letter to The Herald, a writer claims marijuana is a gateway
drug which causes more harm than good yet doesn't cite one example.
The writer also claims that marijuana is detrimental to one's health.
Easy to say but very untrue.

Here are the facts derived from years of research that can be looked
up online: Most people who use marijuana do not use harder drugs.
Marijuana is not harmful to one's health; in fact, a recent study by a
laboratory hired by the DEA to prove that marijuana causes cancer
released results stating that marijuana prevents lung cancer.

Nobody has ever died from marijuana use, while people die every day
from alcohol and nicotine. Alcohol is a factor in most police calls
and is the leading factor in domestic violence, assault, rape, and
teen deaths. Check out LEAP.org, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.
Its members include thousands of police, DEA agents, district
attorneys and judges who, from experience, believe marijuana should be
legal. We waste billions of dollars arresting and incarcerating
otherwise law-abiding and productive citizens for marijuana use. These
arrests, not marijuana, are destroying families and futures.

If one wants to see "the obnoxious, drug-induced mess" cited in that
letter, simply stand outside a popular bar. If marijuana replaced
alcohol the world would be a far better place.

Matt Begley

Everett