MARIJUANA PANIC

Re "Dope alarm," editorial, May 12: The increase in emergency room
visits by "young pot smokers" has primarily shown that THC can induce
panic attacks in susceptible individuals, a fact which has been well
known for years. Perhaps the most important and most often overlooked
fact to note is that none of these "young pot smokers" died from a THC
overdose.With tens of thousands of people, including children, dying
each year from alcohol-related accidents, illnesses and crimes, and
hundreds of thousands dying from tobacco related illness each year, a
discussion about the dangers of the escalating THC content of
marijuana is laughable.

Marijuana is not a harmless drug, but it's certainly safer than the
two most popular and destructive drugs in the history of mankind -
alcohol and tobacco. Only a fool would argue otherwise.

Joseph McGhee, Sacramento