OFFICIALS TRY TO 'TAR' POT

In the "Other Voices" section of the Opinions page on Thursday,
Richard Carmona, the new surgeon general, is reported to have said,
"It's a common misperception that smoking marijuana is less dangerous
than smoking a cigarette. Marijuana contains three to five times more
tar and carbon monoxide than a comparable amount of tobacco."

In reality, a pot smoker uses only a very small amount of marijuana
compared with the amount of tobacco normally used by a cigarette
smoker. It is therefore ludicrous to compare marijuana and tobacco on
a one-to-one basis. In short, a pot smoker is actually exposed to far
less tar and carbon monoxide than a cigarette smoker.

It is disconcerting that the government deliberately uses this
misrepresentation time after time after time.

George W. Iliff
Sun City