SMOKIN MAD: THE GREAT POT DIVIDE

If Mr. Shapiro thinks that Amsterdam is a boring city, he has much
more serious problems than whether he does or doesn't smoke pot,
which he now seems to regard as the most significant aspect of his
life. I would further suggest that the (previously unknown) myth that
the wonderful city of Amsterdam is a "salacious hellhole" is one that
Mr. Shapiro created himself.

While his hostile attitude toward marijuana is a typical response for
former users who decide that they must "quit," he fails to explain
why he should care why his North American friends think he moved to
Amsterdam. His letter does, however, point out a critical effect of
North America's war on marijuana.

Aside from the occasional coffeeshop, there is no visible marijuana
culture in Holland. Nobody talks about it and the media rarely
discuss it. A Dutch teenager may not even become aware of the
existence of marijuana unless he happens to wander into a coffeeshop
that serves this product.

The high profile marijuana enjoys in North America, such that even
kindergarten children seem to be aware of it, seems to be inversely
proportional to the efforts of the authorities to suppress it. As Mr.
Shapiro pointed out, marijuana use in Holland is no greater, per
capita, than in countries where it is violently suppressed. So the
only thing we accomplish with our futile war on marijuana, other than
triggering the violence surrounding its illegal distribution and
ensuring lack of dosage and quality control for users, is to ensure
that everyone in our society is aware of it from an early age.
Tangentially, Mr. Shapiro's letter may serve as a cautionary tale.
You can move to Europe, but you can't move away from yourself.

George Kosinski

Gibsons, BC