RE “STUDIES unclear on cannabis as gateway drug’’ (Page A1, Sept. 30): I think the idea of marijuana as a so-called gateway to later cocaine or heroin use has been thoroughly debunked by now. The only thing marijuana has in common with these other drugs is its illegal status. With Question 4 on the ballot next month, we are in a position to change that status.

Marijuana is not perfectly safe (nothing is), but years of effort have failed to demonstrate hazards that reach the level of alcohol or tobacco, both of which are legal. In a free society, there ought to be a very high bar to making any activity or substance illegal; in my opinion, as a physician and scientist, the evidence on the dangers of marijuana does not justify illegal status. And that status fosters all the same types of social ills we saw with the attempt to ban alcohol in the 1920s.

It’s time to make a change and legalize marijuana.

Dr. Donald G. Ross

North Andover