MARIJUANA REMAINS A MENACE

Re the Aug. 23 Readers' Forum letter Legalize marijuana, about Randy
Moss' arrest: It's outrageous that so many people continue to see
marijuana use as harmless. To dismiss a professional athlete's use of
marijuana is equally disturbing.

How many children and young adults look up to these personalities and
find justification for the use of marijuana?

Explain why my neighborhood has had no less than six illegal
hydroponics labs busted in less than three years. Explain why I should
not worry when my children ride their bikes down the same streets on
which ''law-abiding, productive and taxpaying adults'' stop to buy
bags of dope from these homes? Explain to my family why we should rush
out and legalize this drug. Explain this to the law-enforcement
officers who battle violent drug gangs who sell the illicit drug on
the street corners, in neighborhoods and around our schools; or to the
family of Enrique ''Kiki'' Camarena, the undercover DEA agent killed
by Mexican drug cartels whose major export to this nation was marijuana.

Laws against marijuana are not an infringement on freedom. They are a
matter of law and common sense. The marijuana trade is brutal.
Marijuana contributes to violence, dwindling property values and a
criminal influence in our neighborhoods. These sound like great
reasons to educate our children and keep marijuana illegal.

JOSEPH MOSCA

Homestead