FOOLISH ARGUMENTS

Editor -- Drug czar John P. Walters' op-ed (Open Forum, Sept. 1) attacking
marijuana use is a laughingstock. First, he bemoans marijuana's increased
potency -- as if the existence of vodka alongside beer made alcohol more
dangerous. Then, he notes a "260 percent" increase in adolescent "admissions."

Admissions to what? Treatment? Hospitals? He deftly fails to mention actual
numbers (instead of percentage increases) because they would show
alcohol-and-tobacco-related health problems to be far more numerous.

Then, he winds his way through a battery of quotes (from the Academy of
Sciences). Yet, he so obviously takes things out of context, it makes you
wonder. It would appear that the drug czar's job is now to produce
arguments that fool fewer people less of the time.

JOEL FRANGQUIST

San Francisco