Pubdate: Wed,10 Jul 2002
Source: Kamloops This Week (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 Kamloops This Week
Contact:  http://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1271
Author: R. Stuart Campbell

POT'S REALLY OK

Editor:

Criminals, drive-by shootings, inadequate resources - enough already.

You made the statement 'marijuana is a drug;' so is coffee, so is alcohol 
and I understand cigarettes aren't good for you either, but they are legal. 
It's an interesting dichotomy don't you think?

Encyclopedia Britannica, Science and Technology makes this statement: 
'Chronic use does not establish physical dependence, not upon withdrawal 
does the regular user suffer extreme discomfort physically such as those 
associated with narcotics.'

Enter the dichotomy. The Criminal Code of Canada says marijuana is a 
narcotic. Science says it is not a narcotic.

Tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana, has medicinal 
properties. It has been found to lessen eye pressure in persons suffering 
from glaucoma and alleviates nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapeutic 
drugs used to treat cancer patients.

Don't misunderstand me. People need to educate themselves on this subject, 
particularly those who claim to never have tried it.

Opium, cocaine, heroin and others which destroy lives daily are the drugs 
society should fear.

Keeping the weed illegal is what drives the market. I do not condone the 
legalization of marijuana, but I wholeheatedly support the philosophy of 
decriminalization. It is not illegal to make wine or beer or even grow your 
own tobacco.

As for the big mean money you spoke of, it is the laws governing this 
product which provide the incentive to the risk-takers, especially when you 
consider anyone who works for a living is actually taking home five months 
of his wages and the governments get five months. Everyone needs money, 
that's a given. To blame marijuana for the woes of society is a cop-out.

There are seven city residences where the opium poppy flourishes.

R. Stuart Campbell

Kamloops
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MAP posted-by: Beth