MARIJUANA SMOKING SURELY CAN HURT YOU

To the Editor:

It's not enough that your paper pushes an anti-life, anti-conservative and
pro-gay agenda. Now it seems you need to push a pro-drug message on us and
our kids. I'm referring to the usual (way-out-there-left-wing) diatribes by
Gary Trudeau in his "Doonesbury" strip, especially the one Feb. 2.

While I don't disagree with "Mr. Butts's" contention that cigarette smoking
kills and is otherwise bad for people, the underlying theme of this
particular "ad" is that while cigarettes are killers, marijuana smoking
doesn't hurt at all, other than its legal ramifications (as "Mr. Jay" admits
to hundreds of thousands of arrests for pot smoking/possession). This flies
in the face of scientific evidence to the contrary, which says smoke from
pot can actually be more damaging than from cigarettes. Part of this
reasoning is due to pot smoke being: 1) almost always unfiltered; 2) pulled
much deeper into the lungs than cigarette smoke; 3) held in lungs for a much
longer time.

Many of the same chemical byproducts of tobacco are present in pot and do
the same damage. To state otherwise is irresponsible. But playing fast and
loose with the facts never bothered Trudeau or your editors before, so why
should you stop now?

Other than the obvious health risks from the smoke itself, no one knows for
sure how many accidents (auto, household, boat or other) may have been
caused by someone being high.

Yes, the government persecutes the poor little pot smokers but allows the
tobacco industry to kill at will. All I can say about that is, both will end
up paying in the long run, as will those who promote all the rot in the
world. Whether we like it or not, we all have to answer to someone much
higher than ourselves. I for one don't want to cause one of the "little ones
who believe in Him to sin, as it would be better to have a large millstone
hung around his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea."

But then, that would make me one of those right-wing extremist religious
nuts, I guess.

Rich Cole,

Fulton