Pubdate: Sun, 05 Jan 2003 Source: Halifax Herald (CN NS) Copyright: 2003 The Halifax Herald Limited Contact: http://www.herald.ns.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180 Author: Tom Creighton SHEER STUPIDITY After how many millions of dollars, how much legislation, and how much propaganda and advertising by government and health agencies, trying to get people to stop smoking, we now have government committees bringing forth proposals to give partial legitimacy to remove criminal sanctions against the use of marijuana? And guess how you use it? By smoking it. The stupidity of it all. The Alliance "thinkers" would legitimize possession of up to 30 grams, the amount a heavy smoker would take in (also contaminating those around them). Let us not forget that these lethal bombs will take to their cars under the influence and, at this time, we have no roadside test that can detect marijuana use, so we will have to wait until they hit something. These wise government people may be doing this more to get votes than to build us a better society. We hear those who try to legitimize using drugs say that this is not as bad as liquor, which is legal (and a fat supplier of government income). But if we could start afresh, would we have legalized alcohol? Many medical people would say that marijuana is an inferior pain killer, especially when one considers that there is an inconsistent level of active ingredients. We can do a lot better for our society than having marijuana as a recreational toy to play with. It is not a benign candy, but a drug whose consequences are worrying enough to be much more cautious about. Tom Creighton, Halifax - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom