Letters: A mixed bag on pot-smoker's 'confessions'

THANKS, John Grant, for that wonderful op-ed full of drivel and misconceptions regarding being a dope smoker.

I'm sure there are "responsible adults" who toke now and again. But I bet more of the ones who do frequently smoke marijuana are sleeping in the streets with no place to live because of chronic drug use. (I know several personally.)

Smoking MaryJane often leads to other chemical enhancers. John, you even said it yourself, you got "slow and sluggish in the mind" when you did too much. Well, therein lies the problem. How are kids to know when enough is enough?

The older you get, the more your body rejects "snapping back" from even "intermittent" use. The toxic chemicals from marijuana help break down the healthy cells in your body, and the older and less healthy you are means that those cells never "recover." John, you seem smart in some ways, but dumber than dumb when it comes to keeping your one aging body healthy.

Ajay Jones, Philadelphia

One point should be added to John Grant's epistle on marijuana.

Drug prohibition in its entirety is a counterproductive policy that causes far more damage than addictive drugs ever did when they were legal. Before we had drug prohibition, there was no such thing as drug crime, drug gangs or criminal drug cartels. The only "drug problem" was addicts who may or may not have been happy with their addiction, but that was their problem. Prohibition made addiction everyone's problem.

Accidental drug deaths were rare when addicts used pure drugs. When addicts get quality heroin, the only problem is constipation. Apparently the real purpose the drug war serves is promoting good bowel movements and causing deaths.

Ralph Givens, Daly City, Calif.

Voter frustration

I'm an inmate in the Philadelphia prison system who tried very hard to vote in the recent primary.

Most of the staff said they didn't know about voting. I was finally told ballots would be brought to the pods where cells are, but on May 19, there were no ballots.

I complained, but no staff member would help. Only after 8 p.m. did a staffer tell me I was supposed to go to the education department to vote, but it was too late. I went to the education department the next day, but they said there weren't any ballots there.

I did send a letter to voter registration three weeks before the primary to let them know I wanted to vote while incarcerated.

It would have been nice to vote for my picks for controller and D.A. - even though they didn't win.

Jonathan Robins

Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility

Philadelphia

Ma & Pa Kettle

Who the heck are "the Gosselings"?

M.A. Vare, Philadelphia