HALE TO THE CHIEF

PAC it in: Thanks to Mr. Hale ["Grassroots Campaign," by Wendy Grossman,
January 10]. But I wish more Americans would speak up about using pot in
the past, even those holding office now. As for there not being enough pot
smokers in your city to elect Mr. Hale, I would like to remind him that he
can "get by with a little help from my friends."

That is, if Mr. Hale will get in touch with www.norml.org. They now have a
PAC that might throw a little green his way.

Buster Jones

Albany, Georgia

POT SHOTS

A skeptic of Stephen Hale's call to decriminalize marijuana is quoted as
saying, "I don't personally think there's enough stoners out there to get
somebody elected." Anyone who pays taxes has a vested interest in reforming
marijuana laws. In 2000, there were 734,497 arrests for marijuana in this
country, 646,042 for possession alone.

For a drug that has never been shown to cause an overdose death, the
allocation of resources used to enforce marijuana laws is outrageous.
Taxing and regulating marijuana is a cost-effective alternative to the $50
billion drug war. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of
marijuana use and frees users from the stigma of life-shattering criminal
records. What's really needed is a regulated market with enforceable age
controls. Right now kids have an easier time buying pot than beer.

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 harmless plant. The direct experience
of millions of Americans contradicts the sensationalistic myths used to
justify marijuana prohibition.

Robert Sharpe

The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation

Washington, D.C.