BLODGETT DOESN'T GET GATEWAY

I'm afraid Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett has not done
his homework on the "gateway theory" for marijuana ("Waiting to inhale,"
Sunday, August 8). Former Drug Czar General McCaffrey engaged America's
top medical experts at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to study the
"gateway theory" for marijuana and they determined that that the "stepping
stone" "gateway theory" is invalid. Your readers may study the IOM report
online by searching the Internet. Besides, marijuana activists want
marijuana decriminalized and regulated because it reduces the availability
of marijuana on the streets for young people to purchase.

A regulated market for marijuana (like alcohol) makes it harder for young
people to get marijuana because black-market street sales will be taken
over by government approved and regulated outlets; putting street drug
sellers out of business.

Right now, young people say it is easier to get the unregulated marijuana
than it is to get the regulated alcohol. Alcohol sellers won't sell to
kids (knowingly), but marijuana street sellers don't check a teens
identification or age when they sell them marijuana.

A regulated marijuana market would change that and protect our teens.