Pubdate: Sun, 01 Feb 2009 Source: Hartford Courant (CT) Copyright: 2009 The Hartford Courant Contact: http://www.courant.com/about/custom/thc/thc-letters,0,86431.customform Website: http://www.courant.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/183 Author: Geoff Aldridge DRUG LAWS ARE ILLOGICAL The question is not whether someone caught with a small amount of marijuana should be arrested and categorized as a criminal or just given a $100 civil fine [Page 1, Jan. 26, "Weedonomics"]. It's whether it's logical for our society to allow the wide use of other social drugs such as alcohol and nicotine and not allow the legal use of marijuana. When you look at the biggest negative side effects of both alcohol and tobacco use, such as lost productivity and added health care costs, the side effects from marijuana use would be no different. Is it logical for fathers, sons, mothers and daughters to be put in jail for smoking marijuana while the same people can legally consume as much alcohol and tobacco as they want? In my mind, not allowing them to legally smoke marijuana is not logical. If marijuana is too terrible a drug for society to use responsibly then we should take away everyone's right to use the other drugs, alcohol and tobacco. That is logical. Geoff Aldridge West Hartford - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin