WE learned something about New York Times online commenters recently: They are far, far more supportive of marijuana legalization than the average American.

Over the last 10 days, The Times's Editorial Board published a series calling for an end to the federal ban on marijuana. This stance, we realized, was hardly avant-garde. As we noted in an essay on public views, a majority of Americans now favor legalizing use of the drug. But this majority is not especially large: 54 percent to 42 percent, according to the Pew Research Center's latest poll.

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U.S. federal prosecutors want a stiff sentence for Quebecker Jimmy Cournoyer, who they say has ties to four criminal syndicates

Gone are the jet-setting days when Jimmy Cournoyer acted like a playboy businessman, dating a fashion model, vacationing in Ibiza and clubbing with his buddy and sparring partner, Georges St-Pierre.

Now, having pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn court to eight criminal counts, the 34-year-old Quebec man is waiting to find out if the judge will accept his claim that he is a run-of-the-mill marijuana trafficker who had no dealings with mobsters.

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Regarding The News' thoughtful July 28 editorial, for non-violent offenders with substance abuse problems, treatment is a cost-effective alternative to incarceration. Unfortunately, diversion programs are being misused for political purposes. Record numbers of citizens arrested for marijuana possession have been forced into treatment by the criminal justice system. The resulting distortion of treatment statistics is used by shameless drug warriors to claim that marijuana is "addictive."

Zero-tolerance drug laws do not distinguish between use and abuse. Just as adults who drink an occasional glass of red wine with dinner don't need mandatory substance abuse treatment, the vast majority of marijuana consumers don't either. The coercion of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis into treatment says a lot about government priorities, but absolutely nothing about marijuana.

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CARMEL - Sen. Charles Schumer stood in front of the sheriff's office here and declared heroin abuse in Putnam County an "epidemic" in need of the federal government's attention and resources.

He rattled off a list of harrowing figures: heroin arrests in Putnam have increased 300 percent in the last two years. Heroin-related deaths have quadrupled during that time.

"The battle against heroin is one we must win," Schumer said, flanked by County Executive MaryEllen Odell, advocates and law enforcement officials. "Too many beautiful young lives are wasted by this epidemic."

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As voters and lawmakers in more states decide to legalize marijuana, policy makers will have to answer a fresh and difficult question: How should governments regulate the production and sale of the drug?

Beyond keeping marijuana out of the hands of minors, a good regulatory system has to limit the increase in drug abuse that is likely to accompany lower prices and greater availability after legalization. It should protect consumers from both dangerous and counterfeit products, reducing the physical risk from a psychoactive substance. And a well-regulated system should undermine and eventually eliminate the black market for marijuana, which has done great damage to society.

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It seems like more than a delicious coincidence that The New York Times essentially endorsed the nationwide legalization of marijuana just days shy of what would have been Jerry Garcia's 72nd birthday. But probably not.

The paper's "High Time: An Editorial Series on Marijuana Legalization" advances the notion that the federal government should repeal the ban on marijuana, likening its prohibition to - well - Prohibition.

The dangers of pot use are often compared favorably to the deleterious effects of alcoholism, at least by legalization proponents. I wonder, though, if it's worth looking at the effects of marijuana use without comparing it to anything else - or anything "worse."

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To the Editor:

I applaud the editorial board for highlighting the disastrous social costs of marijuana prohibition and for taking a courageous position in calling for national legalization. I became a mother in 1971, the same year that President Nixon declared the "war on drugs." Twenty years later my son was arrested for marijuana possession, which began a decade of cycling through the criminal justice system for nonviolent drug offenses.

The outlawing of marijuana translated into a war that has been waged against families like mine for over four decades. Prohibition has robbed children of their futures, while building a huge prison-industrial complex. It has caused countless casualties, wasted taxpayer dollars, promoted discrimination and taken away basic human liberties.

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To the Editor:

As your July 27 editorial "Repeal Prohibition, Again" says: "There are legitimate concerns about marijuana on the development of adolescent brains. For that reason, we advocate the prohibition of sales to people under 21."

Our concern about legalization is its effect on kids. Society may not do much better at enforcing this restriction on sale and marketing of marijuana to kids than we have with alcohol and tobacco. Research shows that use of any of these drugs in adolescence - especially early adolescence - significantly heightens risks of substance use disorders in later life.

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GUNNISON, Colo. - Getting a feel for Gunnison, Colo., a town in the Rockies about four and a half hours southwest of Denver, takes a bicycle and a few minutes. On Main Street and nearby blocks you will pass a Wal-Mart, a pizza place called Pie-Zans, a bike-repair-and-espresso shop, the offices of The Gunnison Country Times, the campus of Western State Colorado University and Traders Rendezvous, which claims to have the state's largest collection of antlers and mounted animal trophies. Ride long enough and you will find seven churches and five liquor stores, six if you count the Safeway.

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To the Editor:

I am concerned by the editorial board's stance in favor of marijuana legalization. It has been only six months since retail marijuana sales began in Colorado, and just weeks since the rollout in Washington State. A robust, objective analysis of outcomes in these two states is the only way to determine the best policy on this issue, but for now, it is too early to make a sound judgment.

What we do know is that marijuana is harmful, particularly for the still-developing adolescent brain. As we've seen with alcohol and tobacco, imposing a minimum age will probably not be enough to prevent a spike in teenage use and addiction.

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Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Wednesday asked the state Health Department to expedite availability of medical marijuana for children suffering from epilepsy.

His action was met with approval by Wendy Conte, whose daughter, Anna, 9, of Orchard Park, died 12 days after the governor signed the Compassionate Care Act into law July 5. That made New York the 23rd state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes.

"Striking the right balance to ensure public safety and public health are protected is crucial," Cuomo wrote, while lamenting the deaths of Anna Conte and Olivia Marie Newton, 3, of Cheektowaga. "That said, I ask that you review the 18-month implementation timeline to determine if there is any way to accelerate the process for this specific dire population."

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To the Editor:

Much of the country - with The New York Times regrettably in the vanguard - is advocating the reckless addition of a third drug, marijuana, to two drugs currently legal for adults: alcohol and tobacco. These two legal drugs are the leading causes of preventable illness.

The legal status of a drug has dramatic impact on its use. In the last 30 days, 52 percent of Americans 12 and older used alcohol, 27 percent used tobacco and only 7 percent used marijuana. The dramatically lower level of marijuana use reflects its illegal status, not its appeal. Why is it in our nation's interest to see marijuana use climb? Since when is smoking a program that we promote?

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For Michele Leonhart, the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, there is no difference between the health effects of marijuana and those of any other illegal drug. "All illegal drugs are bad for people," she told Congress in 2012, refusing to say whether crack, methamphetamines or prescription painkillers are more addictive or physically harmful than marijuana.

Her testimony neatly illustrates the vast gap between antiquated federal law enforcement policies and the clear consensus of science that marijuana is far less harmful to human health than most other banned drugs and is less dangerous than the highly addictive but perfectly legal substances known as alcohol and tobacco. Marijuana cannot lead to a fatal overdose. There is little evidence that it causes cancer. Its addictive properties, while present, are low, and the myth that it leads users to more powerful drugs has long since been disproved.

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America's four-decade war on drugs is responsible for many casualties, but the criminalization of marijuana has been perhaps the most destructive part of that war. The toll can be measured in dollars - billions of which are thrown away each year in the aggressive enforcement of pointless laws. It can be measured in years - whether wasted behind bars or stolen from a child who grows up fatherless. And it can be measured in lives - those damaged if not destroyed by the shockingly harsh consequences that can follow even the most minor offenses.

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To the Editor:

Thank you for your editorial calling for a repeal of marijuana prohibition. The marijuana plant is incapable of causing an overdose death. Not even aspirin can make the same claim, much less alcohol or prescription narcotics. Marijuana prohibition, on the other hand, has caused untold deaths in the form of violent drug cartel turf battles and botched "no knock" police raids on residential homes.

Marijuana can be harmful if abused. Marijuana prohibition does not make the plant any safer. In fact, it compounds the dangers of marijuana by granting a monopoly on marijuana distribution to drug cartels that sell meth, cocaine and heroin. Marijuana prohibition is a gateway drug policy. It's time for Congress to stop confusing the drug war's tremendous collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant.

ROBERT SHARPE Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, July 28, 2014

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To the Editor:

While I wholeheartedly agree with the editorial board that we need to end the federal prohibition on marijuana, Congress is not as paralyzed on this issue as many may think.

A growing, bipartisan coalition of lawmakers in the House has approved five measures in a row that represent incremental steps to rationalize our failed marijuana policy. There are more than a dozen bills pending, most with bipartisan sponsorship, that would create a framework for legalization.

The House has voted to increase access to banking services for marijuana businesses in states where they are legal, and prevent the Drug Enforcement Administration from using funds to interfere with state medical marijuana laws. This majority in the House seems to realize what many Americans already knew: Prohibition has failed.

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To the Editor:

Re "Repeal Prohibition, Again" (editorial, July 27): Consumers have made marijuana a multibillion-dollar enterprise, as creative entrepreneurs will always provide for citizens' desires, regardless of government approval. We should legalize marijuana, and add a sales tax. Revenues will cover the social costs of any abuse.

Citizens have more to fear from murder, arson, rape, muggings, robberies, auto and identity theft, and home break-ins. Free law enforcement to pursue those who commit real crimes against citizens and property.

What consenting adults consume or inhale in the privacy of their own home or social club isn't the concern of government. Let us hope that we have finally learned from the obvious failures of Prohibition.

Great Neck, N.Y., July 27, 2014

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To the Editor:

Your opinion, in "Repeal Prohibition, Again," that marijuana should be legalized is based in part on an assumption that during Prohibition "people kept drinking." Prohibition reduced the public's alcohol intake considerably. The rate of alcohol-associated illness dropped in similar fashion. Prohibition was perhaps a political failure, but an impressive success from a public health standpoint.

Both alcohol and marijuana can lead to the chronic disease of addiction, directly affect the brain and negatively affect function. As more than 10 percent of our population has addictive disease, your statement that marijuana is "far less dangerous than alcohol" doesn't reflect decades of research demonstrating risks associated with both of these drugs.

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To the Editor:

I am disappointed by your decision to endorse the legalization of recreational marijuana. Legalization would affect our youth and communities for generations, just as tobacco has done.

The marijuana industry, like Big Tobacco, has shown that it has no compunction about marketing its products to our young people. And in Colorado, we've seen the negative public health effects of legalization: increased admissions to emergency rooms, increases in marijuana-positive fatal car crashes, increased reports of kids as young as middle-school age bringing marijuana to school.

Marijuana is not a safe drug. It harms youths. It harms economies, with extra social costs. How can this be the way forward for America? Don't our communities deserve better?

SCOTT M. GAGNON Gray, Me., July 28, 2014

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What a wonderful Fourth of July in Downtown Saratoga Springs this year! The Firecracker Four Mile Run was so well put together and attended, and it is always great to see the amount of community support, from music along the course, to people setting up homemade "spritzer stations" to keep the runners cool, to the overall excitement and family-friendly energy that this annual event provides to our town.

It was also a great evening of music, celebration, and fireworks in Congress Park. Being a native of this area, I often take these remarkable events for granted, but every year I hear people who come from all over the country, and in some cases, the world, who rave about all of the great things to do in downtown Saratoga during the summer.

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