BEEN THERE, DONE THAT, NO OTHERS SHOULD SUFFER

I've got two words for pot legalization advocates like Thomas Hillgardner
(Letters, July 13): alcohol and tobacco. These two legal drugs cause more
death and suffering in this country than all other calamities combined. We
need another recreational drug like marijuana legalized like we need World
War III.

I got hooked on marijuana and for years sounded off like today's potheads,
saying pot's great stuff, should be legalized, totally convinced I was
right. I am honest enough -- and still have enough brain cells left -- to
see how wrong I was.

I have personally seen examples of parents who smoke pot and their kids then
end up smoking crack cocaine, crystal meth, PCP, you name it. "Hey," the
kids say, "you smoke drugs to get high. They're illegal, but so is pot, and
even my parents smoke pot."

I am passionate about the death and suffering caused by tobacco, alcohol and
other drugs. I do all I can to alleviate it, including speaking out against
recreational drug use and in favor of a healthy lifestyle that is free of
chemical crutches.

I am for any medically proven therapy that relieves pain and suffering, but
legalizing marijuana even for medical use has the potential for endless
unsavory scenarios, so I have serious reservations about doing so. I and
others are not unfeeling monsters because we're aware of the real dangers of
legalizing medical marijuana.

Jerome Kellner

Makawao