WAITING TO INHALE

If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms,
marijuana would be legal ("Mom wants pot. Now how do I send her some?"
June 16-22). Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause
an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of
tobacco. Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail
cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as
deterrents.

Marijuana prohibition has failed miserably as a deterrent. The only
clear winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels and shameless
tough-on-drugs politicians who've built careers confusing the drug
war's collateral damage with a relatively harmless plant.

Robert Sharpe

Arlington, VA