MARIJUANA: LEGALIZATION SOLVES NOTHING

Dear Editor,

Your Feature Letter by Robert Sharpe [Weed worth its weight in gold,
Aug. 7 Comment, Langley Advance News] was a well-written piece of
propoganda.

However, the radical idea to legalize marijuana has problems. It
shifts the drug chain. Drugs have always been around, but popularity
has increased, depending on what was accepted in a society.

Matthew Safran [Legal weed only way, Aug. 17 Letters to the Editor,
Advance News] believes alchohol was bettered when it came out of
prohibition, which is true in many ways. But the black market moved
to drugs.

If a drug dealer's income relied on marijuana before it was
legalized, he would logically find some other drug to make up for his
loss. Taking marijuana off the black market will just void one market
and open a new one.

As far as what is accepted in society, if marijuana is legalized,
what then will be wrong with every other more potent drug? It will
just be one more accepted step to take people away from the reality
of this world.

The problem is that marijuana is so tolerated. If it became more
restricted, as in fines for possession, it would stop a lot of casual
users, just as there aren't many casual users of hard drugs.

Jonathan Maryniuk
Murrayville