Pubdate: Thu, 29 Mar 2001
Source:  The Southeast Missourian
Section: Letters to the Editor
Copyright:  2001 Southeast Missourian
Contact: semissourian.com
Address: PO Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO 63702
Phone number: 1-800-879-1210, 1-573-335-6611
Fax number: (573) 334-7288
Website: http://www.semissourian.com
Author: Richard Coram
Note: Letters of up to 250 words on topics of current interest are welcomed 
- - All letters will be edited - Names and hometowns of letter writers will 
be published with all letters

DRUG WAR FORCES CHEAP BUT DEADLY DRUGS ON MARKET

To the editor:

I'm glad to see the Southeast Missourian has been bold and smart enough to 
allow advocates of responsible marijuana use have their silent screams heard.

I recently read a book, "Marijuana: One Man's Mystique, Another Man's 
Truth," written in 1988 by Maxon Roads that pretty well sums up what is 
happening with the drug war. In essence, the war is much more destructive 
than the drugs the war was supposed to stop.

Roads tells how the policies of the war have literally destroyed families 
and trust even among the best of friends. Because of the government's hard 
stand against the least harmful of the illegal drugs, marijuana, our 
government has and continues to force the really bad stuff onto us. The war 
has made the marijuana the least affordable of all drugs.

God created marijuana, a relatively harmless plant. Man has created, 
concocted, mixed and brewed all the really cheap but deadly drugs.

I too understand the truth. Stop the illegal drugs from coming? We export 
the world's worst drugs, cigarettes and alcohol.

Richard Coram
Jackson, MO
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