The Post’s Sept. 15 editorial on Initiative No. 71 was aptly headlined “Just say no,” recalling Nancy Reagan’s message to kids in the 1980s, since it read like an artifact of prohibitionist thinking.

Initiative No. 71 would legalize the use of marijuana only for adults and would not make it legal to sell marijuana. That would be up to the D.C. Council to implement.

The Post incorrectly surmised that the council rejected legalization by passing decriminalization. The consensus on the council is that the will of the voters should determine whether the District adopts legalization. Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), author of the decriminalization law, and others have expressed this view to the D.C. Cannabis Campaign.

We may not yet know all the benefits of redirecting an estimated more than $26 million per year now spent by the Metropolitan Police Department and the District’s court system on enforcement of marijuana laws once legalization is passed. However, this is a progressive and long-overdue step toward creating a safer, more just and free civil society.

Adam Eidinger, Washington

The writer is chairman of the D.C. Cannabis Campaign.

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While I disagree with the Sept. 15 editorial “Just say no” for a number of reasons, I was most disappointed to see the editorial board perpetuating the long-disproved myth that marijuana is a “gateway to more dangerous drugs.”

This myth originated decades ago, with surveys showing that most users of hard drugs such as heroin had previously tried marijuana. But this connection, widely publicized by politicians trying to drum up support for the failed “War on Drugs,” is meaningless — most users also consumed milk before trying heroin.

Easier access to marijuana also hasn’t been shown to lead to increased use of hard drugs. For example, less than 2 percent of people in the marijuana-friendly Netherlands have tried cocaine, compared with 16 percent in the United States.

The only way in which marijuana serves as a gateway is because its users need to buy it on the black market, often from people who also sell other illegal drugs. By allowing D.C. residents to grow marijuana in the privacy of their homes, Initiative No. 71 would break this link and make it less likely that marijuana users will come into contact with other drugs.

Sam Tracy, Somerville, Mass.

The writer is chairman of Students for Sensible Drug Policy.