JUST TOKING

There's a substantial body of evidence showing that marijuana's active
components -- cannabinoids -- protect brain and nerve cells from many types
of damage (Study Turns Pot Wisdom On Its Head -- front page, Oct. 14). A
recent study in the Journal of Neuroscience, for example, reported that
cannabinoids can protect against some of the brain damage seen in
Alzheimer's disease. Other studies have documented that these marijuana
components protect nerve cells from the degeneration seen in a variety of
conditions, including multiple sclerosis.

Eventually, science overtakes myth and superstition, even in the case of
this hugely demonized drug. Marijuana is certainly not a cure-all, but the
data show it to be far more benign and far less harmful than professional
drug warriors in both Canada and the U.S. would like us to believe.

BRUCE MIRKEN,

director of communications, Marijuana Policy Project, Washington