AS DEADLY AS TOBACCO

You suggested in your editorial that the legalization of pot is in order.
As evidence, you throw out that "pot is less dangerous and addictive than
alcohol or tobacco." While this may seem true at first glance, when one
examines it further, it is seen to be less than likely.

Tobacco kills through the cumulative effects of smoking tobacco-filled
cigarettes, cigars and pipes. I am not convinced that most people who smoke
funny grass do so with filters that are normally attached to cigarettes.
One must assume that pure marijuana -- grown in the immaculate laboratories
of Flin Flon, Manitoba, and not in some damp, dirty dark basement -- is at
least as deadly as tobacco.

Yet, this does not solve the real problem. The real problem of marijuana
may not be that it could lead to some kind of physical harm. The real
problem may be that it could lead to some kind of pathology of the soul.
Marijuana provides its users with a means to enjoy the rewards of
excellence without possessing it themselves. Marijuana subtly nurtures the
idea that happiness can be obtained not through hard work, passion and
virtue but through the simple process of lighting up a joint.

Gary Cymbaluk, Oakville, Ont.