GATEWAY DRUGS

EDITOR: Dr. Kevin Costello claims in his Monday Close to Home column,
"How a little dope can hurt," that marijuana is a "gateway drug." He
refers to a Journal of the American Medical Association article which
concludes that marijuana "seems to actually precipitate the
progression to the stimulants (cocaine and methamphetamine) and even
to heroin .." But, he also mentions the same article claims that
young people start with tobacco then progress to alcohol and then to
marijuana.

So tell me, why is marijuana considered the "gateway drug" when
alcohol and tobacco, which are proven to be much more addictive and
many times more destructive than marijuana, are not considered
"gateway drugs"? Is it because we live in a county whose biggest
asset is its alcohol-based wine industry? Is it because alcohol is
legal and marijuana is not? Is it because the big drug companies
cannot control the prescription of marijuana because, hey, I could
just grow it in my own back yard? And everyone knows that one of the
biggest foundations this great country was built on was people's
addiction to tobacco. Why isn't tobacco listed and referred to as a
"gateway drug"?

GWEN JONES

Santa Rosa