I don't know where Juliet Hotchkiss ("Marijuana safer than alcohol") gets her information from, but the notion that kids who turn from alcohol to marijuana and become "kinder and gentler" is like saying a knife is gentler than a gun.

People with addictions get it where they can. When the buzz doesn't work as well after a while, they use more and more of the substance or use it as a "stepping stone," a gateway to another drug.

As for driving high, high is high, period. It doesn't matter, Ms. Hotchkiss, whether you are conservative or liberal--alcohol and drugs do not choose by political correctness.

Want to do what's best for the children? Let them get high the old-fashioned way, through acts of love, respect for themselves, and by not taking life for granted.

George Shepherd

Agoura Hills

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