MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION IS A LOGICAL STEP

Re: Rock's garden gone to pot? (July 3). While the government should be
commended for the medicinal marijuana-growing operation, it should go much
further and fully legalize the substance for recreational use by the
general population.

We live in a society where every person has his or her vice, whether it be
drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco or eating rare steak. We allow these
latter activities because, while recognizing that every activity comes with
some risk, we also recognize the importance of permitting activities that
do not infringe upon the rights of others. Smoking a marijuana cigarette
would seem to fall into this same category. Besides, since most people
already use their drug of choice (i.e. -- tobacco, alcohol, caffeine), it
is very hypocritical for the government to criminalize the comparatively
benign use and possession of marijuana.

Parliament is currently re-examining Canada's drug laws, and the logical
step is for the government to legalize the personal use and cultivation of
pot, or at least regulate it and tax it like everything else. To maintain
the status quo, where a Canadian must live with the risk of being fined or
imprisoned for their indulgence in cannabis, is to unjustly infringe upon
an individual's personal liberty.

RICHARD THOMPSON, Winnipeg