DON'T TELL OTHERS THEY CAN'T SMOKE POT

Editor:

Re: Pot activists being dishonest, TIMES, Dec. 29

John Martin's opinion on marijuana states "new evidence (on marijuana
use) is damning for legalization and decriminalization advocates who
have long argued that marijuana is essentially harmless."

I don't believe users of marijuana are advocating that marijuana is
"harmless." What they are advocating is that it is a "harmless vice."

The evidence has been in for a long time that marijuana is not good
for your body.

Nobody in their right mind (pardon the pun) can deny
this.

What advocates for marijuana use are saying is that smoking pot is not
criminal behaviour.

Users say they enjoy it, they are not harming anyone other than
themselves and in a free society they should be allowed to do it just
like others are allowed to do their harmless vices (fatty foods,
cigarettes, alcohol).

Martin's article also lists a host of problems associated with
marijuana use.

The way Martin paints the picture, users of marijuana will turn into a
Frankenstein creation with a single puff.

I am skeptical of some of the statistics Martin presents correlating
marijuana use with a host of delinquent and deviant behaviour.

Statistics can be misleading and, in this case, difficult to explain
away all those people who smoke pot and are not deviant or delinquent.

I don't recommend smoking pot to anyone.

It is a dirty, filthy habit that wreaks havoc on one's body. But who
am I to tell people what to do with their body?

Mike Sands

Maple Ridge