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Letters to the Editor
By Hempology | December 4, 2002
From the GLOBE AND MAIL, December 2nd, 2002
DRUGS
Fear-mongering about marijuana must stop
Re: “Police seek more power to shut down pot houses,” Nov. 27.
It never ceases to amaze me the great lengths that law enforcement will go to try to protect their jobs.
We are being fed nonsense about the “present and clear danger” that marijuana grow houses pose. The only
dangers we are being exposes to is the stupidity of prohibition.
Every problem cited in the article is a problem caused by the prohibition of marijuana, not the marijuana
itself. Most people who grow pot are NOT gang members, do not steal electricity and do not pose any threat to
their communities or families.
This irresponsible fear-mongering by law enforcement officials must stop. It is ludicrous to suggest that
children are at risk because mom and dad have some plants in the basement.
Poverty is the real risk that children in this province face, not the fact that their parents have green
thumbs.
The main effects of marijuana are relaxation and contentment and this would be most beneficial to the U.S.
especially in their current frenzied state. I resent the waste of my hard-earned tax dollars on a misguided,
American-fuelled drug war.
We have some real problems in this country and marijuana is NOT one of them, If criminal gangs are really
the problem that we are told they are, legalize pot and we have eliminated their source of income overnight.
No one is at risk due to marijuana but many people have been harmed by the prohibition of it. It’s time to
stop the insanity and legalize a plant that has been used safely by people since time began.
Lynne Williams,
Chemanius
Stepping-stone claims ridiculous
Re: “Police seek more power to shut down pot houses,” Nov. 27
If alcohol, tobacco and marijuana were all newly discovered and only one of them was to be legalized, which
one would be chosen? If people put themselves in charge of the government as it was meant to be then the
decision would be based upon addiction and health.
Out of the above criteria, marijuana would be the most likely candiddate for legalization. More than half of
Canada has used or uses marijuana, either for medicinal or “recreational” reasons.
The fact remains, marijuana is NOT addictive, does not have any known long-term effects, and certainly
does not promote violence, except for the fact that it is associated with a “criminal” element only
due to the fact that it is illegal!
It is also dicidulous to say that it is the stepping stone to harder drugs.
If marijuana was legalized, then there would be no more illegal grow ops, no more marijuana “pushers” and
a heck of a lot less innocent people filling up the courtrooms. It is “high” time that people start ruling
the government instead of the government ruling the people.
Nathan Reed,
Sidney.
Government should side with majority
Re: “Courts too lenient on pot growers,” Nov. 28.
You want more stringent penalties for the production of a product which more than half of Canadians want legal -
a product which the Senate has reviewed and deemed less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco?
Why not side with the far more virtuous position that the government should follow the majority views
of Canadians and the Senate. The Senate has called for the provincialization and regulation of marijuana
like the wine industry.
Your editorial review that more Canadians should be sacrificed to the holy altar of the War on Drugs for longer
sentences against the wishes of the Canadian majority is morally and fiscally repugnant.
AIDS is a problem, homelessness is a problem, hunger is a problem. Violent criminals are a problem. Terrorism
is a problem. Marijuana is not a problem – except in regards to a law that does not have popular support.
Chuck Beyer,
Victoria
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