Medical marijuana is no gateway drug

I read with interest Lon Allan’s take on banning all marijuana growing, stores and mobile sales in Atascadero (“Atascadero’s ban on marijuana, celebration of wine is a double standard,” Jan. 26).

Him being the Luddite curmudgeon he has demonstrated and admitted to, I would expect no less. I guess he has no friends or associates who use medical marijuana for chronic pain or conditions. At least they don’t admit it to him, because they fear his lecture on how using pot will lead them on to using heroin or crack cocaine for their arthritis or sciatica.

The canard that pot is a gateway drug has been pretty well debunked, but as Lon is not well read on scientific or technology matters, I would expect he is operating on unfounded opinion, not fact. If he knew the relief that pot gives to many users, he might not be so against its use. Or maybe not.

This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 9:32 AM with the headline "Medical marijuana is no gateway drug."