GRANDPARENTS' GENERATION LEARNED IMPORTANT LESSON ABOUT THE NEGATIVE IMPACT
OF PROHIBITION OF ALCOHOL

Letters to the Editor - To the editor:

My random thoughts on your editorial of Sept. 9th about Legal Pot.

First, thanks for your candor. Many American papers still think we can
still beat drugs if we cheerlead good news and avoid bad news.

The idea of redirecting the cannabis war to fight other drugs sounds good,
but it would add profit to the underground market.

This, in turn, would motivate rogue chemists to design drugs to get in,
make a quick profit, then get out before the law adds the new drug to the
prohibited list.

The rule my grandparents' generation learned in the 1920s is that driving
alcohol underground causes more societal damage than it prevents.

This rule applies to any popular drug or drug that becomes popular during
its prohibition, as cannabis did.

It may also be the reason Ecstasy is more dangerous in the U.S. than the U.K.

Good point about avoiding cannabis hoopla, and I'd advise smokers to keep a
very low profile.

Otherwise this needed reform will backfire.

John Chase , Palm Harbor, FL