DESPITE WHAT CARTOON SAYS, POT IS HARMFUL

I would like to respond to the Feb. 2 "Doonesbury" cartoon. In it, there is
a conversation going on between a cigarette and a joint. When the cigarette
reveals that it kills 400,000 people a year, the joint feels like a "fraud"
because it has killed none.

Obviously, this cartoon is to forward the idea that pot is harmless and
should be legalized. A mind-altering drug can never be considered harmless,
no matter how much propaganda is published. People who smoke pot waste
their time, their money and their lives sitting in a darkened room,
squinting at the world, lacking any ambition and ignoring life in general.

What about the children so frequently present among this type of
(non)activity? Where is their parent? How can the child reach that parent
or receive any decent amount of love and attention? And if pot is
legalized, who will speak up for the neglected children then?

I resent the implication that because pot doesn't kill like cigarettes do
that it would be considered OK. There was a song released not so long ago
with the heart-breaking lyric, "I meant to send the child-support check,
but I got high."

MICHELLE FOWLER

Ballston Spa