I sympathize with Allen Tingley ("Losing friends, career paths to marijuana proves to be sobering reality," Feb. 3).

I also lost a friend when he was arrested for marijuana-related crimes and was imprisoned for several months.

It broke my heart to see his spirit wither as he realized that his freedom was gone. His time in jail utterly changed him and he has never been the same.

He had a 4.0 GPA in engineering curriculum and, like Tingley's "Friend A," he had "a good head on his shoulders and a great mind inside that head." Also, like "Friend B," he "is one of the kindest, most loving, most devoted people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing."

For these reasons, Tingley's interpretation of his friends' downfalls baffles me. Tingley blames marijuana; I blame our legal system. The dreams of Tingley's friends are certainly shattered, but must he blame some imaginary natural or medical property of marijuana that besmirches one's character and makes one unfit to be, say, a high school teacher, like "Friend B" wanted to be?

Rather, their lives are ruined because of the arbitrary legal consequences imposed on marijuana use and the social stigmas that accompany them.

Tingley's friends "C" and "D" definitely used poor judgment by making marijuana a priority in their life. But their plight is no different that that of countless more whom ruin their lives with alcohol -- something that is every American's legal entitlement.

Tingley, your friends -- especially "A" and "B" -- are good people.

Marijuana didn't destroy their lives.

The law did.