Pubdate: Thu, 05 Sep 2002 Source: Sentinel Review (CN ON) Copyright: 2002 Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. Contact: http://www.annexweb.com/sentinel Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2385 Author: Joanna Stroinska LEGALIZING MARIJUANA WOULD BE ASININE The reason I am writing to you is to tell you just how stupid it is for the Senate Committee to recommend legalizing the use of marijuana. I may be just a normal grade 8 student, but I know that marijuana is a strong and addictive drug. By legalizing marijuana you aren't doing us all a big favour, you are more or less ruining our and your future. There is no good reason to legalize marijuana. Why don't you just make it available only through doctors, like morphine and they would give it to people who really need it for medical reasons? Perhaps it wasn't a problem when you were young, but I know that kids like to experiment. If you encourage them to try a legal drug like marijuana, they may just want to continue and try stronger ones. And you are not helping police either, because it is legal to smoke and drive. If the point of legalizing marijuana is to put drug dealers out of business, you would be better off giving kids money for reporting them. Finally, stop making decisions based on the past or present, start thinking about the future. If you think that you are going to make profit through taxes, think about it this way: will you be able to pay for lost lives, if kids get hooked on marijuana and then move on to stronger drugs. You can go ahead, smoke pot and ruin your life. We won't care. But do not drag our lives down with you. Can you imagine your own life 20 years from now, when you are old and sick and those kids that you encouraged to use marijuana will be running this country? We may then set our own rules and, who knows, maybe legalize euthanasia. Joanna Stroinska Woodstock - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens