The real reason Andy Harris doesn't support legalizing marijuana

While I never enjoy hearing anything about Maryland's troglodyte Congressman Andy Harris, I did enjoy your article about the feud between him and the nascent legal marijuana industry (“Andy Harris-marijuana activist feud is as petty as it is pointless,” Apr. 15).

You failed to mention, however, Mr. Harris' real reason for opposing legalizing marijuana, as opposed to the reasons he gives in public. Legal marijuana is already cutting deeply into the pockets of the manufacturers of Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa and other drugs for depression that are currently the most widely used medicines in America, as well as manufacturers of drugs for nausea, pain, psychosis, seizures, sleep disorders and spasticity.

That's billions of lost dollars for some of the biggest donors to the Republican Party and to Mr. Harris himself. So it's not surprising to hear Congressman Harris parroting the talking points put out by the drug companies. It doesn't take a genius to see what's right in front of your face.

William Smith, Baltimore