EDITORIAL OFF-BASE ON MARIJUANA COMMENTS

To the Editor,

Re: Editorial, Need for a Plan That Works.

This vulgar anti-pot propaganda piece should never have been printed.
Was the editor huffing glue, or what?

"... society doesn't need more mind-ravaging substances around."

Since when is marijuana a mind "ravaging" substance? It has none of
the effects of other drugs, and has in fact, been used as medicine
for 5,000 years at least. Since she quit pharmaceuticals and turned
to cannabis four years ago, my epileptic wife's mind has never worked
better. She went from 60 seizures a year to just two. Call that "ravaging?"

One only has to look as far as the 2002 Senate Committee Report to
know that cannabis is one of the most benign medical substances known to man.

Recent studies from Saskatchewan show cannabis to stimulate tissue
growth in the hippothalmus part of the brain, and studies out of
Spain and Israel show cannabis to have cancer fighting qualities, the
most recent study shows cannabis protects the brain from Alzheimer's.

"Mind-ravaging substance" indeed! What balderdash. Is that the best
argument that prohibitionists have? - "We don't need another drug available?"

By that logic we should hand control of the alcohol industry back to gangsters.

Russell Barth

Federal Medical Marijuana Licence Holder

Ottawa