SOME USERS VIEW MARIJUANA AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO ALCOHOL

In their column on "Doonesbury" and marijuana, Ed Gogek and Jim Gogek
acknowledge that "alcohol and tobacco are legal and in many ways more
harmful than marijuana" but claim that's no reason to legalize pot
("Nothing funny about comic strip character's wasted life," Opinion
Commentary, Jan. 27).

I beg to differ.

I know alcoholics who have turned their lives around by putting down the
bottle and picking up the marijuana pipe. Granted, they may still have a
substance abuse problem, but at least now 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.

Given that there will always be a small segment of the population with a
predisposition toward drug use, it only makes sense that the least- harmful
recreational drug is made available.

If the Gogeks don't like marijuana, they shouldn't smoke it. But Americans
who prefer marijuana to martinis do so with good reason. It's a healthy
alternative to alcohol.

Robert Sharpe, Washington