Pubdate: Tue, 09 Jun 2009
Source: Coaster (CN NF)
Copyright: 2009 Coaster
Contact:  http://www.thecoaster.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3280
Author: Russell Barth

DRUG EDUCATION SHOULD FOCUS ON THE TRUTH

Dear Editor:

Junk food kills and injures many TIMES more Canadians each year than 
all illegal drugs combined.  So does doctor error, prescription 
drugs, booze and tobacco.

The problem I have with the current drug "education" is that it 
always focuses on the bad.  Dangers, addictions, crime, punishment, 
disappointing family, shame.  Why not just teach truth?

Why must we control people's minds and decisions?

Why must we exaggerate and instill fear and fealty?  Kids have to 
measure that against the list of people who's lives and creativity 
has been enhanced by drug use and made the world a much better place.

People like John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Star, Drew Barrymore, 
Jack Black, Dave Chappelle, Tommy Chong, Cameron Diaz, Woody 
Harrelson, Shia LaBeouf, Bill Maher, Cheech Marin, Method Man, Pierre 
Berton, Pierre Trudeau, Paul McCartney, Bill Murray, Willie Nelson, 
Barack Obama, Mary-Louise Parker, Amy Poehler, Sean Penn, Michele 
Philips, Michael Phelps, Redman, Seth Rogen, Seth McFarlane, Seth 
Green Snoop Dogg, Steph Sherer, Sarah Silverman, Katt Williams, Owen 
Wilson, Neil Young, George Carlin, Jerry Garcia, Bob Marley, Jennifer 
Aniston, Brad Pitt, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Pierce Brosnan,Bill Gates, 
Steven King, Sarah McLachlan, Montel Williams, Gene Krupa, Buddy 
Rich, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Dan Aykroyd, Lewis Black, Michael 
Bloomberg, Sir Richard Bronson, George W. Bush, Fidel Castro, Bing 
Crosby, David Crosby, Macaulay Culkin, Matt Damon, RodneyDangerfield, 
Ben Affleck, Bob Denver, John Denver, Melissa Etheridge, Kevin Smith, 
Alanis Morisette, Walker Evans, Errol Flynn, Morgan Freeman, Art 
Garfunkel, Newt Gingrich, Alan Ginsberg, Ed Harris, Daryl Hannah, 
Paris Hilton, David Hockney, Whitney Houston, Victor Hugo, Chrissie 
Hynde, Grace Slick, John F. Kennedy, John Kerry, Queen Latifah, Phil 
Lesh, John Lennon, Norman Mailer, Groucho Marx, Matthew McConaughey, 
Frances McDormand, George Michael, John Stuart Mill, Robert Mitchum, 
Jack Nicholson, Pablo Picasso, Ross Rebagliati, Arthur Rimbaud, Diego 
Rivera, Susan Sarandon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, William Shakespeare, 
Robert Smith, Sting, Ted Turner, Queen Victoria, Pancho Villa, Prince 
Harry, Ricky Williams, Robbie Williams, Robin Williams, William 
Butler Yeats, Philip K. Dick, Maynard James Keenan, Eddie Vedder, 
John Popper, Lil Wayne, Gandalf, J.K. Rowling, Milton Berle, Jack 
Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Irvine Welsh, Johnny Depp, Hunter S. 
Thompson, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Keanu Reeves, 
Kristen Steward, John Stewart, Kid Rock, Chris Rock, Pamela Anderson, 
Ashton Kutcher, Annie Liebowitz, Adam Clayton, David Faustino, Ricky 
Williams, James Brown, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, David Lee Roth, 
Carlos Santana, Freddy Fender, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Malcolm X, Allen 
Iverson, Haley, Joel Osment, Jason Mewes, Mischa Barton,  Salvador 
Dali, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, 
Leonard Cohen, B.B. King, Steven Page, Brian Wilson, Anthony Kiedis, 
John Malkovich, Charlie Sheen, Francis Ford Coppola, Dennis Hopper, 
Barbara Streisand, Liza Minelli, Yoko Ono, Billy Idol, Ozzy Osbourne, 
Jack White, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Boy George, Daniel Lanois, David 
Bowie, Elton John, Fionna Apple, Tori Amos, Jewel, Stevie Nicks, 
Christine McVie, Shirley Manson, Pink, Jacob Dylan, Billie Joe 
Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tre Cool, Dr. Dre, Burton Cummings, Jimmy 
Page, Robert Plant, Iggy Pop, Jackson Brown, James Taylor, Ritchie 
Havens, Country Joe McDonald, Perry Farrell, Ian Anderson, Joe 
Jackson, Joni Mitchell, Ian Curtis, David Gilmour, Lou Reed, John 
Sebastian, Marilyn Manson, Trent Reznor, Paul Simon, Joey Ramone, 
David Byrne, Jeff Martin, Tom Waites, Tracy Chapman, Peter Fonda, 
Jane Fonda, Eddie Van Halen, Van Morrison, Chris Cornell and Rivers 
Quomo, to name just a few.

Russell Barth, Federally Licensed Medical Marijuana User Patients 
Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis (PAIDOC) 
www.paidoc.org Nepean, Ontario
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom