IN reply to Alec Leaver (Letters, July 31) concerning legalising cannabis, a 'perfectly harmless drug' it may be - as I know, having tried it myself - but can you imagine this product being released on prescription to the public at large?

Such a move would ultimately help to further our black economy. People who don't really need it could, I'm sure, persuade doctors to prescribe it.

They could be people who have had back pain for a long time, or who suffer from other debilitating conditions but manage to control them with efficient painkillers.

These people could tell their doctors the pills were no longer doing their job and that they feel cannabis would provide a better treatment.

It happens all the time - that once a person has been prescribed a particular drug, he is free to reorder it each month. He is then in a happy situation whereby he can flog the drug and make a very handsome profit indeed.

Most people don't pay a prescription charge due to being on benefit, so selling cannabis would represent a 100 per cent profit. The government's drugs bill would then treble or quadruple.

And change in the form of cannabis, so that it could not be smoked, would not deter people from taking it.

All of this is a great shame, because I believe also that cannabis is a breakthrough for pain sufferers. I wish I could afford it regularly as I have been unfit for work for eight years and am 63 years of age.

B BITHELL, Kent Street, Burnley.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.