PRAVDA.Ru reader writes open letter to President Bush

Dear President Bush,

I saw your speech you gave yesterday on illegal drugs. I was not happy with the speech. What could have been an intelligent thought-provoking realistic talk about dangerous drugs, turned out to be another pep talk. Why do you lump soft drugs like Marijuana and Hashish in with hard drugs like Cocaine and Ecstasy. While you were giving your speech yesterday, CNN was scrolling facts below your image. One of them being that 76 percent of all drug users in the United States preferred marijuana. That is a very significant statistic. Most of the illegal drug users in this country use soft drugs like Marijuana. Children today are probably less educated than 20 years ago but they are more perceptive in many ways. It will take far more than reactionary statements and generalizations to convince anyone under 40 years of age. Children today know the difference between Marijuana and Cocaine. In your speech yesterday, there was no distinction. If you but Marijuana, you are supporting terrorism. That statement simply is not true. There are many people in the drug business besides terrorists. Many drug dealers are Patriots. Just because someone believes in the recreational use of soft drugs like Marijuana and Hashish does not mean that they support terrorism or wish for the downfall of the United States or are part of a terrorist network. Your statement that "I'm going to do something about it" which you made several times is over stepping your authority and has got big brother written all over it. Nobody put you in charge of our social life and prosecuting individuals for victimless crimes is wrong and immoral and is not the American way. Pharmaceutical companies are the biggest drug pushers in this country or any other country. They come right into our homes through different mediums like television and radio and try to convince us that we have a problem and we need their product. New pills for new diseases. I do not see you declaring war on poverty, homelessness, out of control pharmaceutical companies or scheming energy giants. People buy illegal drugs because they want to. Simple as that. If they are over 21 years of age and old enough to fight and die for this country, then they are old enough to make decisions for themselves and should not be threatened with incarceration for socially using soft drugs. Please legalize the recreational use of soft drugs like marijuana and hashish.

Sincerely, Jeffrey Seelman Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA