BODY POLITIC'S STUPIDITY

Charlottetown -- It is surprising that William Johnson's thoughtful columns
on decriminalizing marijuana use (July 26, Aug. 2) have drawn so little
response from readers. They deserve attention.

I served for 10 years as deputy minister of social services on PEI, which
gave me overall responsibility for child-protection matters. At no time did
we find it necessary to initiate custody action stemming from use of
marijuana; on the other hand, alcohol abuse was almost always a complicating
factor. While some family separations involved excessive use of drugs,
rarely was marijuana a cause. Family violence almost always resulted from
alcohol abuse.

When I brought our experience to police chiefs and attorneys-general, they
argued that marijuana use leads to something else. My recommendation that we
should then concentrate on the "something else" was unheeded. Our current
policy is based on a politicized form of neurotic stupidity, whereby the
body politic continues with harmful behaviour to its members because the
leadership is unable to stop.