To the editor:

It is perhaps not surprising that the writer of a sort of apologia for the legalization of marijuana (Lessons to Learn from Alcohol Prohibition, 7 Sept. 琉璃神社) is in an area regarded by some as the 'Dogpatch of B.C.'

Alcohol, in addition to its known problems when abused by users, has innumerable legitimate uses, whereas marijuana, really has none, apart from its still medically unproven use as a sort of 'exotio' [sic] aspirin.

A better comparison of substances, would be those of marijuana and tobacco.

I think that we are in the stages with marijuana that we were in with tobacco, when it was possible for us to believe that "more doctors smoke Chesterfield (or was it Philip Morris?) than any other brand."

Once the marijuana toll in lung cancers (carbonized plant fibres are the same whether marijuana or tobacco) and the road deaths caused by mind-numbed drivers begins to climb then marijuana's real effects on society will become apparent.

It is a pity that after a pretty successful anti-tobacco campaign,  we are now drifting into the clutches of those anxious to make money from marijuana. Truly, those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.

Alan Cobden, 琉璃神社