LAWS ON INTOXICANTS INCONSISTENT

Deborah Chase is stunned at the juxtaposition of two pictures of men
smoking, one a cigarette, the other a joint (Letters, July 15, "Legalizing
pot a societal decision"). She did not mention that on Page C3 of the same
edition of The Gazette was a picture of a race-car driver spraying champagne
on two women wearing tank tops with the Molson Canadian logo prominently
displayed.

The decision to legalize marijuana is, indeed, a societal one but not
because we are divided on the issue of allowing adults in a free society to
consume substances that alter users' judgment; as the third photo shows,
that decision has already been made. The question is whether or not we want
our laws to have some consistency.

Whether an intoxicant is inhaled rather than ingested should not be the
determining factor in defining its criminality.

Al Rhino Feldman

Montreal