IS AMERICA GOING TO POT?

TIME's coverage of the medical marijuana controversy was thoughtful and
scrupulously researched. But what argues most persuasively for a ban on
marijuana is the extraordinary threat the drug poses for adolescents.
Marijuana impairs short-term memory, depletes energy and impedes
acquisition of psychosocial skills. Perhaps the most chilling effect is
that it retards maturation for young people. A significant number of kids
who use lots of pot simply don't grow up. So it is hardly surprising that
marijuana is the primary drug for more than half the youngsters in the
long-term residential substance-abuse programs that Phoenix House operates
throughout the country.

MITCHELL S. ROSENTHAL, M.D., PRESIDENT, PHOENIX HOUSE, New York City

I fail to see how legalizing a drug that impairs one's ability to
concentrate and retain information can be viewed as good public
policy. I have worked in drug-treatment centers for more than 20
years, and I continue to see clients who identify marijuana as their
gateway drug to alcohol, cocaine and heroin.

PHYLLIS SELLNER, Indianapolis, Ind.