BEGS TO DIFFER

This letter is in response to the anti-pot diatribe from the cabal at Let's
Educate About Drugs (LEAD) ["Stop marijuana", April 4]

The idea that "marijuana is bad and so we must ban it" is based upon
nothing but ignorance. More people die each year skydiving or rock
climbing than do smoking pot, yet there is no demand to ban these
recreational hobbies. Instead, we regulate these activities, ensure that
they are as safe as possible, and let people enjoy them, which is the same
policy we should adopt towards cannabis.

Spurious claims about "marijuana addiction" just reveal the misinformed
status of the writers. Every major study into cannabis has found that it
is non-addictive and essentially harmless. Besides, the idea that we need
police raiding homes and destroying families as some sort of public health
measure is a ludicrous assault on personal freedom and common sense.

Their letter mentioned that heroin and cocaine also come from plants. How
true. In Colombia, indigenous peoples have used the coca plant safely for
thousands of years. They consider it sacred, and use it for spiritual,
social, and practical purposes.

However, the US has recently spent over a billion dollars on helicopters
and toxic herbicides like Round-Up, which has been sprayed over many tens
of thousands of acres of farmland, in an effort to eradicate coca plants
from the world. The New York Times, Washington Post, and other major media
have reported how these toxic herbicides often miss their targets, dousing
schools, churches, and food crops.

Residents of the Sunshine Coast know all too well the harm that can be done
by the US drug-war military machine. Helicopter raids are already a part
of life for many in our community. If drug warriors like those at LEAD
have their way, those helicopters may one day carry more than just police
hell-bent on stealing our livelihood, they may start spraying toxic death
upon our land as well.

Let's just say no to drug war excess, and embrace the new thinking and
innovative ideas needed to create a better future for us all.

Dana Larsen