Pubdate: [Sun, 08 Sep 1996] Source: Spokesman-Review, Spokane (WA) Author: Tom Hawkins Politicians who smoked pot and now seek to wage war on pot smokers should be rotting in prison cells, not running the country. These hypocrites smoked pot, and it didn't lead to heroin or crack addiction. Now, Susan Molinari, R-N.Y., who was chosen to deliver the keynote address at the GOP convention, admits that she, too, partook of the evil weed. And yet, somehow she miraculously escaped damnation. More important, she didn't get busted and now holds an important position in government. Molinari says she wouldn't have done it if she knew then what she knows now. What does she know now that she didn't know then? That she will be giving the keynote address to a hypocritical political party that takes in millions from the tobacco and alcohol companies? Her excuse is that she has kids now. It's time to call off the witch hunt. People who smoke pot are no more criminals than people who drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes, and their mortality rates are much lower. Even if the politicians don't know it, their children must know they're hypocrites. Sincerely, Tom Hawkins Coulee Dam