PROHIBITION LEADS TO HARD DRUGS

Thanks for publishing Robert Sharpe's outstanding letter: "Marijuana Versus
Martinis" in the May 19 edition of the Observer.

I'd like to add that the so-called "gateway effect" is caused by the
criminalization of marijuana.

Because marijuana is criminalized, it is often sold by the same people who
also sell other, much more dangerous drugs, and offer free samples to their
marijuana customers. This would not happen if marijuana were legal and sold
in licensed business establishments.

It's time to close the gateway to dangerous drugs by legalizing marijuana.

Kirk Muse