GOVERNMENT ABLE TO STOP HARM TO SELF

Thanks for publishing the outstanding letter from Scott Russ: "Fear,
politics keeping pot illegal" (3-25-04). However, Russ didn't mention
anything about the right of a free country's government to punish adult
citizens for potentially harming only themselves.

Even if marijuana were very dangerous and harmful, which it is not, our
government has no legitimate right to punish adult citizens for using it.

Our government doesn't punish adult citizens who attempt suicide and
survive. So under what authority does our government have to punish adult
citizens who harm only themselves by using the wrong (politically selected)
drugs, even in the privacy of their own homes?

It seems to me that adult citizens of a so-called free country should be
free to smoke, swallow, snort or inject any substance they want, as long as
they are personally responsible for the consequences.

A free country's government cannot protect adult citizens from themselves
and a free country's government has absolutely no rightful authority to
attempt to do so.

Kirk Muse, Mesa, Ariz.