'LET DEMOCRACY HAVE IT'S PROPER PLACE IN OUR SOCIETY'

To the Editor:

Re: Marijuana candidate puts high school in tough position, (NDN Friday
Nov.17, 2000)

It is interesting to read, from a distance, the concerns of the locals, of
whom I was once one. As a graduate of L.V. Rogers Senior Secondary School,
I was exposed to as much of the drug culture as could be offered to
"vulnerable" pre-voting age students. I did not feel the need to
participate in drug use, and even though many of my contemporaries chose to
do so, I felt that it was simply a form of "escapism" from the daily
challenges of life.

I am of the belief that the political forum should proceed with all parties
present, including the Marijuana Party, as the students have likely already
made up their minds whether or not they would be "users" or "non-users" of
cannabis. The messages will therefore not likely be "mixed messages," but
will hopefully be informative in nature. Let democracy have its proper
place in our society.

Sidney Bowles, LVR Class of 1969 Pilot Butte, Saskatchewan