Pubdate: Wed, 10 Sep 2014
Source: Express-Times, The (PA)
Copyright: 2014 Ken Rapp
Contact: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/sendaletter/
Website: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/expresstimes/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1489
Author: Ken Rapp

OLD ATTITUDES ABOUT MARIJUANA SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO DIE

Imagine something that might make you feel irritable or depressed,
talkative or confused ... giving you illusions (delusions?) of
grandeur, and even paranoia. Am I thinking about marijuana? No, I'm
thinking religion!

Writer Dan Lyons, who often lectures the rest of us on his perceived
religious certainties, lays out a pretty paranoid view of marijuana
usage (letter, "Confusion persists about dangers of marijuana," Sept.
9). It can make you hungry or thirsty ... oh, the horror! It affects
your central nervous system! (So does a good cup of coffee.)

It leads to a life of crime ... really? Of course we know it's
supposedly the "gateway" drug - but I'd bet my last dollar that before
addicts and/or criminals had their first joint, they had a jolt of
nicotine from a cigarette, or had a beer or three. Are we going to
outlaw cigarettes and beer? Of course we aren't.

When the old judgmental generation dies off, no one will care who's
white, brown or black, who's gay or not, who marries whom, or who
smokes pot or not. That, to me, seems like a happier world.

Ken Rapp

Easton
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