SAFE ADDICTIONS, LEGAL POT AND GRAMMAR

Re: Legalizing Pot Makes Sense, editorial, July 11.

Kudos for your outstanding editorial. But, actually, your headline
should have been "Re-legalizing pot makes sense," because, for most
of Canadian and U.S. history, pot was legal.

Most drug-war cheerleaders proclaim that, if marijuana were
re-legalized, usage would skyrocket. I believe that the Netherlands
example shows that this probably would not happen. But suppose that
pot use did increase; suppose pot use among adults doubled. Would
this necessarily be bad? I submit that it would not.

As pot use increases, alcohol use declines. Most marijuana users
don't drink alcohol, but those that do drink alcohol, drink
substantially less than non-marijuana users. I believe that most
doctors would agree that heavy marijuana use is a lot less harmful
than heavy alcohol use. Heavy alcohol use can and does kill. No
amount of marijuana has ever killed anyone.

Kirk Muse, Mesa, Ariz.