LEGALIZE MARIJUANA AND 'GATEWAY' WILL DISAPPEAR

Re: "Early marijuana use may indeed lead to harder drugs" (TNT, 1-22).

When one buys marijuana, one must go to a dealer who as often as not is
supporting his own habit of marijuana or stronger drugs. Thus those other
drugs are available as well to the buyer. If people had to go to a drug
dealer to buy beer or liquor, this same "gateway" would be available to
them. If they had to buy pool chemicals from a drug dealer, again the
gateway would be there.

There are numerous studies showing that marijuana use is not as harmful to
the body and less addictive than alcohol. When this country wakes up from
its hypocrisy and allows marijuana to be sold over the counter the way
alcohol is, the "gateway" will disappear.

Jim Schmidt

Tacoma