DARE = DISASTER

"Perhaps those who criticize others for being misinformed should
educate themselves."

Indeed. If Ryan Kiedrowski would examine Canadian history prior to
1982, he would find the answer to his question: "If this drug is so
great, why is it still considered illegal to possess it?"

Marijuana was prohibited in 1923 based on racist lies and "supposed
dangers" that never actually existed. The MPs who passed the
legislation never even read it! It took 14 years before a single
marijuana possession charge was filed in Canada.

Face it: cops lie about pot. The RCMP have been caught lying and
exaggerating about marijuana, their bust reports, the dangers, and
the medical benefits again and again and again. They do this to
instill fear and fealty in the general population, and to protect
their ever-expanding budgets and powers of coercion and intrusion.

Marijuana has dozens of medical applications, and was the one of the
most prescribed medications in Canada's pharmacopoeia until it was
prohibited. But it would cost billions to develop it into a
patentable pharmaceutical capable of competing with the simple,
cheap, raw plant. Big Pharma uses their money and influence over the
government to keep marijuana illegal. Imagine it this way: What would
happen if the coffee lobby had so much power as to make apple juice illegal?

Marijuana represents freedom and the "counterculture." Police,
government, and big corporations are bent on "control," and people
using marijuana are harder to "control" because they are prone to
critical thinking, questioning authority, and demanding civil rights.

So really, politics is the only reason pot is still illegal! The
politics of control.

Kiedrowski's assertion that "the presence of RCMP officers in schools
brings with it another message - that police are not people to be
feared. The interaction by officers and students should be promoted,
not criticized" is absolute nonsense!

The message from police and government is "obey without question, or
suffer the consequences! You have already been assimilated, so quit squirming!"

DARE's record should speak for itself with one word: disaster.

As for offering alternatives, Educators For Sensible Drug Policy
(www.efsdp.org) offers a full program based on fact-and science based
education, devoid of fear-mongering and "obedience oaths."

Furthermore I use pot all day, every day and I could still out-debate
any police officer on this topic! You give me one hour with a school
full of kids, and I can get way more of them to avoid or quit drugs
than any hyperbole-spouting control-freak police officer! And unlike
the cops, I wouldn't use taxpayer's dollars to finance it either - I
would do it for free!

Russell Barth

Federal Medical Marijuana

License Holder, Ottawa, Ont.