LETTER TO EDITOR: The pot thickens

After 30 years of working to educate parents to be sufficiently involved in their children's lives so that there is no need for artificial "highs," I am coming to the conclusion that a whole generation of parents has used enough marijuana that it has destroyed the pleasure center of the brain. Consequently, these parents may lack the capacity to love and nurture their children properly.

As for the reduced number of tobacco smokers and the waning interest in tobacco, I believe that fewer teenagers use tobacco because they have been given constant information about its negative effects ("Teens smoking less tobacco, more pot," Page 1, Tuesday).

When we speak to teenagers about marijuana, they invariably say, "Tobacco and alcohol are much more dangerous, and they are legal." They defend marijuana as if it is some miracle drug. The sad part is that many elected officials are willing to promote the same myth. Bills to legalize pot under the guise of "medicine" are being pushed in Congress. Parents have called, written and e-mailed Congress to stop legalization in any form.

Dr. Robert L. DuPont, the first director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has described marijuana as "the country's most dangerous drug." He also has said: "Never in the history of modern medicine has burning leaves been considered medicine."

JOYCE NALEPKA

President

Drug-Free Kids: America's Challenge

Silver Spring