SHUT UP AND MAKE ME A HEMPWICH

Jim Washburn's excellent column "Felony Foods" (Lost in OC, March 15)
highlighted the absurdity of a government crackdown on hemp at a time when
the country faces the real threat of international terrorism.

The Drug Enforcement Administration's decision to get tough on hemp
pretzels, snack bars and veggie burgers seems absurd. Like any drug,
marijuana can be harmful if abused.

Unlike alcohol, pot has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor
does it share the addictive properties of nicotine.

Unfortunately, marijuana has come to represent '60s counterculture to
misguided reactionaries intent on legislating their version of morality.

The reefer-madness myths have long been discredited, forcing the drug war
gravy train to spend millions of tax dollars on politicized research,
trying to find harm in a relatively benign plant.

This country cannot afford to continue subsidizing the prejudices of
culture warriors to the tune of $50 billion annually.

Robert Sharpe

Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, D.C.