'DOONESBURY' DAMAGING

Please tell me why the News chose to run Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury on Jan.
27 instead of cutting it as you should have. If ever censoring were
justified, that was the proper time to do it.

The marijuana cigarette cartoon character (with liquor in hand) is saying:
"The only thing that I caused was 735,000 arrests." Wrong, Trudeau.
Marijuana is the stepping stone into the drug culture. It is illegal. My
encyclopedia calls marijuana a "narcotic." Billions of taxpayer dollars are
spent on drug interdiction, drug education and rehabilitation. And law
enforcement people put their lives on the line daily in an attempt to
thwart the insatiable drug appetite of so many Americans. But one "cutesy"
cartoon character may have done untold damage in society's efforts to steer
young people away from marijuana.

How can life hold so little joy for so many human beings that they need
drugs to deaden the pain of living or to bolster their sense of well-being?
Marijuana harmless? Trudeau couldn't be more wrong. And you, Rocky Mountain
News, were wrong to publish his "cartoon." I feel betrayed.

Jean Witte, Lakewood