US OUT OF STEP ON MARIJUANA

IN CANADA a Senate special committee after a two-year study has released a
600-page document recommending that marijuana be legalized and amnesty be
given to those in jail for marijuana-related offenses. Britain recently
announced that it will decriminalize marijuana possession by next summer.
Other countries have started to liberalize their marijuana laws. Yet the
federal Drug Enforcement Administration is fighting the war on drugs as
hard now as it has ever been. It's time for the Bush administration and
Congress to wake up and stop wasting taxpayers' money on processing petty
marijuana arrests. The government should be concentrating on important
matters like health care, corporate responsibility, and protecting
Americans from terrorism.

THOMAS ANGELL

Warwick, R.I.