MIXED MESSAGE

Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury in your Sunday comic section (Feb. 2, 2003)
implied, through discourse between a cigarette and a joint, that while
tobacco smoking contributes to thousands of deaths yearly, marijuana smoking
is safe, except for those who possess or distribute the drug.

While in many ways marijuana is no worse than legal recreational substances
such as alcohol and tobacco, it is inaccurate to suggest that it is
harmless. Marijuana contains many toxins found in tobacco. It has been
linked to, and is almost certainly causative of, head and neck cancers and
lung cancers, much in the same way cigarettes induce these deadly diseases.
There are likely other health risks of chronic marijuana use.

Kids: don't try to learn about health issues in the funny pages.

Dr. Kyle Carr

Suttons Bay