SETTING THE STORY STRAIGHT ON MARIJUANA

If Peter Carlson's caricature of Keith Stroup was the story, why dedicate a
page to the man's retirement ["Exhale, Stage Left," Style, Jan. 4.]?

The story did not give Mr. Stroup and the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) credit for bringing about major change in
the nation's drug laws.

Mr. Stroup and NORML won precedent-setting litigation that required a U.S.
environmental impact statement for U.S.-funded herbicide spraying of
Mexican marijuana. Mr. Stroup and NORML filed a petition in 1972, leading
to the Drug Enforcement Administration's chief administrative law judge
finding in 1988 that marijuana was safe and had an accepted use in
medicine. That litigation laid the groundwork for the laws we have in 10
states that permit medical use of marijuana. In a few months, this issue
may result in the most important Supreme Court ruling in 60 years on
Congress's power under the Constitution's commerce clause (Ashcroft v. Raich).

No contemporary book on drug policy fails to credit the central role Mr.
Stroup and NORML played in helping to achieve marijuana decriminalization
in the 1970s. Mr. Carlson's attempt to capture Mr. Stroup's legacy went
awry when he succumbed to the temptation to write of Mr. Stroup's
accomplishments in pot-related cliches.

ERIC E. STERLING

President

Criminal Justice Policy Foundation

Washington