IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL

Judge put on leave? Sanctions contemplated? Good Lord, you'd think that
toking on a joint was a big deal or something. At least the judge in
question wasn't getting stoned at work, which is more than I'd say for his
liquor-drinking colleagues across the nation.

Many, if not most, states consider possession of a small amount of weed - an
ounce or less in many jurisdictions - to be a misdemeanor. Likewise, being
"caught" smoking a joint brings no more than a ticket payable in absentia,
with no court appearance required.

Our Canadian friends, as you've no doubt heard by now, are seeking to
decriminalize marijuana possession and use nationwide.

And someone wants one of your judges to throw his career away? Somebody let
this moralizer in on a big secret: Even President Bush has enjoyed the
pleasures of drug use. Shall we hold him incapable of completing his term?

Jon R. Koppenhoefer

Springfield, Mich.