Pubdate: Sat, 16 Aug 2014
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2014 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Page: F8

TALKING POINT

'Pot Still Fails the Sniff Test' Was the Headline on a Column About 
Marc Emery's Return and Marijuana Legalization. Readers, Print and 
Digital, Got Fired Up About Letting Canadians Fire Up

..

Health Canada and the majority of good doctors feel the jury is out 
on the purported benefits. Anecdotal evidence is not medical proof. 
Until this doubt is removed beyond a puff of smoke, then keep it 
illegal and make the penalties a deterrent and enforce it.

Art Pollard, Victoria

..

If you want to put a dent in organized crime, bring billions out of 
the underground economy in pot and put it into seniors, the disabled, 
veterans, education, healthcare or the homeless.

Gary Ferguson, Peterborough, Ont.

..

I do not do any kind of drugs, but I see that alcohol does a lot more 
damage to people and their families than pot does. It actually helps 
people with specific health issues, including cancer, glaucoma and 
anxiety. It only makes sense to legalize it so that there are some 
controls and, yes, so it could be another taxable item.

Brenda De Lair

..

Call me old-fashioned, but I say no to the legalization of pot in 
Canada. That's right up there with legalization of prostitution. 
People of moral character need to stand up and just say no to this whole idea.

Jonathan Hill, Spruce Grove, Alta.

..

Kids can get marijuana without much difficulty regardless of its 
legal status. The argument that legalization will allow kids to smoke 
pot is just another one of the Conservative Party's talking points 
that has zero factual basis.

Stephen Berg

..

The columnist says it's Economics 101 that legalizing marijuana will 
lead to more teens using it. The evidence, however, suggests otherwise.

A recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
found that use of pot by high-school students was no higher in states 
that had legalized medical marijuana than in states that had not.

As for legalization for recreational use, the Colorado Department of 
Public Health and Environment reported recently that teen use of pot 
had actually declined slightly since the state took that step two years ago.

While these results may seem counterintuitive, every parent of a 
pot-smoking teen can make perfect sense of them. In this country, 
where pot remains illegal, any teen who wants it can easily find 
someone to supply it. Legalizing the stuff, while prohibiting its 
sale to minors, could not possibly make it easier to get.

Wayne Sumner, university professor emeritus, University of Toronto 
philosophy department

..

Punishing people for what they choose to ingest is just as morally 
wrong as punishing them for the religion they follow.

Persecuting Jews and persecuting marijuana users are indeed morally 
equivalent, as Mark Emery has said - whether or not the punishments 
are equally severe.

Alan Randell, Victoria

..

The irony is that current restrictions on legal outlets make cannabis 
more easily available to children than alcohol and tobacco.

Having once been a teenager and raised two through their teens, the 
reality is that they will get their hands on stuff they shouldn't.

Making cannabis legal for adults and instituting the same 
restrictions against selling it to minors as currently in place for 
alcohol and tobacco will most likely reduce its current easy 
availability to children.

George Haeh, Turner Valley, Alta.

..

Colorado has seen violent crime drop and tax revenue rise. And pot is 
far safer than alcohol, which is taxed and regulated.

Steven Cedrone

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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom