"DANGERS OF POT-SMOKING BLOWN OUT OF PROPORTION"

The prohibition of cannabis is a joke. All the dangers of pot-smoking are
blown up to intolerable levels because of its illegality and nothing more.

The underlying message of Richard Barszczewski's guest column seemed to be
"Down with pot, we've already got alcohol and tobacco."

I say down with "BIG BROTHER" opinions like Barszczewski's.

Glen MacGrath, Vancouver

Inspectator Barszczewski's assertion that alcohol and tobacco are sold
on the black market by organized gangs is patently absurd and would be
laughable if it were not uttered by a Canadian law-enforcement official.

It seems, that Inspector Barszczewski is another bureaucrat fearful
that the drug-war gravy train is going to come to a screeching halt.

Tom Goins, Oklahoma City, OK

Officer Barszczewski makes an argument for continuing marijuana
prohibition that is as dishonest as it is incorrect.

No advocate of legalizing marijuana would claim marijuana is harmless,
rather they would say that isn't a valid criteria. What he's not
telling you is that it is important to his career that he retains the
right to arrest you, rifle through your possessions and lock you in a
steel cage.

Matthew Katz, New haven, Ct.

This guy is saying that marijuana is just as bad, if not worse than
alcohol and tobacco products.

Please, I am so tired of these old-fashioned cops who act like they
are the mortal gods of our cities and that they know all.

Regardless of what is in the streets, your children are going to make
their own decisions, even if you tell them the "truth" about
marijuana. Having a police officer say marijuana is evil and once you
smoke one joint you are set to be a heroin addict just makes a teen
even more curious about the drug.

If marijuana is as lethal as these so-called scientists say, then why
haven't I heard about a kid who overdosed on marijuana and died?

Dylan Matter, Abbotsford

Any problems associated with marijuana arise because the government
has abdicated its responsibility to regulate an industry that produces
a product that the majority of Canadians want decriminalized. The
role of regulator has by proxy been given to organized crime.

It is time to consider ways to tax the product so that it pays for
health care and schools, rather than using our precious tax dollars
for jail cells, green teams, helicopters and hundreds of police
officers looking for plants while murders, home invasions and other
violent crimes are unsolved.

Chuck Beyer, Victoria