I am very concerned about pre-physiology freshman Zach M. Weinstein's Tuesday mailbag letter because I fear that many people share his opinions on marijuana policy ("'Medical Marijuana' an ironic cliche").

Even if it were true that marijuana cigarettes contain more carcinogens than their tobacco counterparts (a 2006 UCLA School of Medicine study found that they do not), there are many ways other than smoking the herb to ingest it, such as preparing it with food, which can prevent many of the harms usually associated with marijuana smoking.

[continues 167 words]