SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT WAR ON POT

In response to Richard Stacy's Speakout column ("War on Drugs should not be
abandoned," June 3), I want to clarify a fact he brought up about the
tragic death of Brittney Chambers.

Brittney Chambers did not die from an overdose of Ecstasy. She died because
of overhydration. That is, she drank too much water. If Stacy had paid
attention to the news and the facts, he would have known that one profound
side effect of Ecstasy is dehydration. In reaction to this, Chambers drank
a lot of water -- too much in fact -- and that killed her.

I also find it interesting that Stacy never mentioned marijuana in his
piece, even though 600,000 people are arrested annually for marijuana-
related offenses, 86 percent of those for simple possession.

Now, I agree that there are some drugs that shouldn't be ingested by
humans, and Stacy is right to keep on going after the supply side of hard
drugs such as methamphetamines and cocaine. But something should be done
about marijuana. The fact is that there are law-abiding citizens out there
whose only crime is having a pocketful of medicine and they shouldn't be
subject to criminal procedures.

Charlie Vogel

Gypsum