In response to Lauren Pomerantz's letter ("Marijuana higher risk drug than some people believe," April 11), it appears that she, like many Americans, has been misled about marijuana by the government. She states that marijuana is addictive, despite the fact that there are no studies to support that it is physically addictive. Many teens receive treatment for marijuana "dependency" because they have gotten into trouble with it, not because they can't function without smoking. Marijuana does have four times the amount of carcinogens as a cigarette, but that number can be greatly reduced by the use of a vaporizer or other smoking devices. Lauren also makes the common claim that marijuana is a "gateway drug." The factors that lead someone to use drugs in the first place are more likely to be the factors that lead to the use of harder drugs. Smoking marijuana does not induce people with the need to use other drugs.

As to the legalization of marijuana, we need to look no further for a reason for its legality than by examining alcohol. Alcohol is involved in 60 percent of all violent crime, while marijuana is involved in 60 percent of all Family Guy ratings and candy purchases. Each year, alcohol is responsible for 5 percent of all deaths in our country. That is five times more than the amount of deaths caused by all illegal drugs combined, but for some reason we view marijuana as the serious enemy. If marijuana were legal, our government would save billions on enforcement costs and could gain millions by taxing it.