Readers React: Don’t blame an apparent alcoholic’s bad behavior on marijuana

To the editor: Kerry Madden’s ne’er-do-well brother-in-law isn’t an argument to keep marijuana illegal any more than my alcoholic uncle is an argument to outlaw the wine Madden says she enjoys. (“Legalizing marijuana is a hazy question once you’ve seen addiction up close,” Opinion, June 5)

“Marty” letting snakes loose in a hotel and stumbling at a baptism show that weed was the least of his problems, which Madden admits included alcohol abuse (drunks stumble, potheads do not). Details about Marty (he doesn’t vote, doesn’t go to plays, he moves at night) are cherry-picked to aid our condescension and have nothing to do with the issue.

Madden’s statement that “addiction is addiction, whether it’s alcohol or pot or heroin” is not only laughably wrong but also reveals a puritan’s wish to remove all temptation. By that reasoning, credit cards should be illegal to deter shopaholics. The scene at Marty’s funeral, his death apparently unrelated to drugs (or she probably would have said so), is gratuitous and manipulative.

I thought this kind of “reefer madness” nonsense was behind us, but I guess not.

Garrett Soden, Playa del Rey

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To the editor: I am sorry to Madden that her brother-in-law was apparently an alcoholic. Marijuana had nothing to do with his anger and destruction.

In my 50 years or so of experience with pot, the substance has never made anyone I know angry or want to fight or kill, as alcohol has. The alcoholics I’ve known have always improved their personalities by using marijuana and become easier to deal with.

Don’t blame pot for a drunk’s lousy behavior.

Cheryl Clark-O’Brien, Long Beach

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