POT -- PRO AND CON

As a parent raising a child in the city, I was disappointed in the
irreverent tone of the "Parenting Through the Haze" story (April 22).
The previous evening my block in the Western Addition erupted with
gunshots, once again, as rival drug gangs in our neighborhood fought
for the right to service the more affluent addicts around us.

Parents, if you choose to keep illegal drugs in your home, tell your
kids the whole story. Tell them that drug distribution, including
cheap little dime bags of pot, ravage the poor and mostly minority
neighborhoods in our own city. Tell them that the war on drugs will
never go away until the demand decreases, but that our government will
always focus on the supply. Tell them that once they start buying
drugs, they are not just part of the problem, they are the whole
problem. And parents, do you really think introducing drugs to your
kids is a good idea? Has it helped you become a better person?

Justin McDonald

San Francisco