MARTINIS MORE HARMFUL THAN MARIJUANA

In his April 24 letter to the editor, "Terror is no excuse to toke," Robert
Knight rails against pot smoking "[i]n the interests of preserving liberty."

Apparently, "liberty" in Mr. Knight's mind means big government controlling
what citizens ingest and the continuation of punitive drug policies that
have given the "land of the free" the dubious distinction of having the
highest incarceration rate in the world. The drawbacks to drug use that Mr.
Knight describes are far more relevant to alcohol than pot.

I personally know alcoholics who have turned their lives around by putting
down the bottle and picking up the marijuana pipe. Granted, they still may
have a substance-abuse problem, but at least they can get out of bed in the
morning without a hangover and lead productive lives. Nor do they run the
risk of drinking themselves to death. It is not possible to consume enough
marijuana to die from an overdose.

Given that there always will be a small segment of the population with a
predisposition toward drug use, it only makes sense for the least harmful
recreational drug to be made available. If Mr. Knight doesn't like
marijuana, he shouldn't smoke it. The millions of Americans who prefer
marijuana to martinis do so with good reason. The plant is a healthy
alternative to alcohol.

In the interests of preserving liberty (and tax dollars), the war on some
drugs has got to end.

ROBERT SHARPE

Washington