STREET WEED DANGERS

Re: What's Really In The Weed, letter to the editor, Aug. 2.

Victor Daveikis's letter makes many great points, but I would like to
add to it, in an effort to inform kids, specifically.

The problem with street weed is that it is often poorly grown. White
powdery mildew, bug sprays, fungicides and bad fertilizing practices
can contaminate the pot badly.

This stuff usually smells like chemicals and burns black, or pops and
crackles when it burns. That is why it is just dumb to buy from the
street. My epileptic wife had a seizure from that stuff once.

"It makes no sense for a dealer to give away their stock for free."
says Daveikis, but occasionally, a dealer will sprinkle meth or coke
onto a bit of pot for his more naive (younger) customers. Instead of
coming back two days later asking for another $20 bag of weed, they
come back two hours later demanding more of "whatever the hell that
was I just smoked."

The problem with meth, Ecstasy, mushrooms and other street drugs is
that you don't know who made it. Nine times out of 10, it was probably
some freak distracted by his own drug problems, who holds no degree in
chemistry or botany, and who is producing for bulk profit, not for
safety. Just because someone says it is Ecstasy doesn't necessarily
mean that it is. They might not even know they are about to kill you
- -- it is just business.

Russell Barth, Federal Medical Marijuana Licence Holder, Ottawa.