Pubdate: Wed, 22 Jan 2014
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2014 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198
Author: Ruth Dodson

MARIJUANA VS. ALCOHOL

Regarding "DA: Obama's comments on pot reckless" (Page B1, Tuesday), 
Lloyd Oliver, a Democratic candidate for district attorney, said "I 
could sell a person a beer and it's a gateway to what: good Scotch 
whisky? Marijuana is simply a gateway drug."

I have an opinion based on 55 years of observation. I have lost two 
immediate family members due to drinking and driving. I watched three 
friends/neighbors literally drink themselves to death.

The tally for marijuana leading to other harder drugs, at least in my 
middle-class world, is a big, fat zero. To believe that alcohol is 
harmless is ignorant bliss. To believe marijuana is a bigger threat 
than alcohol to our youth is simply not true.

Ruth Dodson, Montgomery
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom