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KEEP MARIJUANA ILLEGAL

Although Justin Guiffre's column ( "Put the poor before pot" April 20, p.  4 ) on marijuana made some interesting points, it did not address the deadlier problems that would surround marijuana legalization.  According to a 1994 report in the New England Journal of Medicine titled "Testing Reckless Drivers for Cocaine and Marijuana," 33 percent of reckless drivers who were tested for drugs were high on marijuana.

Could you imagine what would happen on our roads if marijuana use became acceptable and legal in this country? Could you imagine how many more reckless drivers would get behind the wheel high and endanger their own and other people's life if marijuana became legal?

Additionally, although most major scientific research bodies agree that there is not yet enough research on the subject to make them happy, many have sponsored or published reports showing how marijuana smoking increases the risk for cancer, causes respiratory harm and otherwise hurts individual health.  In a country that is already dealing with a major health care crisis, why must we add yet another burden to our nation's health system? When we are trying to scale back tobacco use for these exact reasons, why must we introduce another smoked carcinogen to the legal market?

Although I do appreciate finally seeing a column defending the criminal status of marijuana, I think that it would be better to focus on the truly deadly effects of marijuana to get the message across that marijuana legalization would be bad.

Daniel Wessel, Senior