HAZARDOUS DRUGS

Re "Aerosol sniffing deadly for teen," Sept. 17: Is the press just going to
stand by and let the entire "war on drugs" budget be spent on the least
harmful of the illicit drugs while kids are dying from the truly dangerous
substances?

Perhaps The Bee can figure out what's wrong with our "war on drugs."

Richard Tobias, Sacramento

Re "War on drugs makes some cops act like criminals, " Forum, Sept. 6: The
war on drugs only stops one thing and that is the industry of hemp in
America. The hemp you see the kids wearing nowadays is imported. The hemp
you know they're smoking is grown locally.

When I add up the casualties of the war on drugs, from the killing of
innocent people to the erosion of civil liberties to the end of hemp
industry in America, I know the war on drugs is based on lies and ignorance
about hemp.

The war on drugs also causes gang wars and drive-by shootings, just like
alcohol prohibition. I hate wars. There are too many tears.

Janice Bonser, Carmichael

THE DEVIL WEED

Re "House: Keep pot illegal," Sep 16. With logic straight out of the Dark
Ages, the House has again reaffirmed its "message to teenagers and the
nation" that the hemp plant is so intrinsically evil that even patients
with terminal illnesses are better off suffering rather than risking their
soul by seeking relief from the devil's garden.

This quasi-religious campaign of ferreting out doctors and patients who use
the forbidden hemp medicine, harshly punishing them and branding them with
a lifetime police record is a barbaric policy based on fear and ignorance,
and only discredits other, more valid anti-drug messages.

Mark Pritchett, Sacramento

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski