OVER IT: In 32 years of smoking with thousands of different people, I have yet to see a smoker 'lose it' as claimed by the media and others.

We've asked our readers to share their views on drug laws in New Zealand. This reader wonders why marijuana is illegal while tobacco and alcohol are taxed.

I have smoked marijuana on a daily basis since age 12 and I am now 44.

I smoke on average four joints a day if not more; I don't drink alcohol due to a low tolerance or smoke tobacco.

I have held many high positions in my working career that require excellent memory, and at no stage did anyone know I smoked.

Marijuana is a drug just like alcohol and tobacco, the only difference being, alcohol and tobacco is taxable and marijuana isn't.

Alcohol and tobacco have cost the taxpayers of New Zealand millions of dollars every year in healthcare, court proceedings, death and violence; what has the average marijuana smoker cost?

In 32 years of smoking I have yet to see a smoker 'lose it' as claimed by the media and others.

I am not saying it's not bad for people, what I am saying is it is no different a drug than alcohol and tobacco with the only real difference being tax, and therefore classed as a bad and evil drug.

I have also had to take high-powered prescription drugs for a heart defect that I was born with, these so-called government taxable drugs left me in a zombie state with no real want for life yet a puff on a joint does the exact same thing for the pain only I feel alive and wanting to achieve something in the day.