STATE HAS NO RIGHT TO PUNISH PEOPLE OVER WHAT THEY INGEST

To the editor:

Re: "Penalties for pot growers rising," Mar. 5

According to your story, Mr. Justice Wilfred Klinger said "Those who
consider the effects of the possession and use of this substance
(marijuana) to be benign should read the predisposition reports prepared
for the sentencing of young offenders. Those reports all too frequently
describe its deleterious effects on young persons."

Judge Klinger must be the most naive individual on the planet if he
thinks that predisposition reports prepared by a busy probation officer
after a single interview with the accused reflect reality as regards to
the deleterious effects of this or that drug.

The judge also has a strange way of interpreting the Charter if he
thinks that the state has the right to punish anyone for ingesting
anything, whether or not the ingested substance is dangerous.

Alan Randell,
Victoria