GET HEP TO THE VALUE OF HEMP

Dear Editor:

Re: Derek Andrews' (Feb. 6) letter re: marijuana resolution.

Perhaps this issue should be left up to federal politicians to decide vs.
municipal leaders, but I don't really have a fundamental problem with the
North Vancouver District council exploring the subject.

The fact that the motion about marijuana actually passed should tell him
something:

People may just want change. He may not want it or agree with it, but the
forced-to-be-silent majority of people (especially here in B.C.) know that
the propaganda campaign of falsehoods against marijuana really ought to be
cleaned up.

For the record:

Many global countries are currently re-thinking their positions in regards
to the non-drug strain called hemp, in order to stop unnecessary
deforestation for pulp and paper.

Growing this plant in clearcut areas protects against erosion because the
deep tap roots hold soil in place, and hemp has been shown to be a far
superior building material to wood, metal, and plastic.

Hemp seeds are an excellent food source (second only to soya beans in
essential non-fatty acids and protein).

Scientists are investigating its promising-potential as a fossil fuel
(ethanol) for cars, buses and tractors (far-more environmentally-friendly
than gas or diesel).

Hemp is even a superior material for clothing (and doesn't need any
pesticides like cotton, the "real horror plant" does).

Make no mistake: pesticides kill humans and one quarter of all pesticides
in North America are used to grow cotton.

Mr. Andrews is right about marijuana being a drug -- it causes "a chemical
change in the body."

However, caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco are three drugs that immediately
come to mind which are far more potent and dangerous than marijuana.

I fail to see how Mr. Andrews can speak of heroin and marijuana in the same
sentence.

They are not equal drugs in my mind, and I'm certain that the majority of
the educated and uneducated population in this country and around the world
would agree.

Mr. Andrews' Pandora's Box analogy just doesn't fit the brave Amsterdam
experience, either. By all counts, soft and hard drug use is way down since
they started to "tolerate" the soft drugs of marijuana and hashish.

Note that it is not legal, and that they have never "advocated" drug use.

They just believe in something that our society doesn't: education and
presenting all the facts upfront, so that people can make an informed
decision.

It's time that people like Mr. Andrews realizes that kids are not stupid.

The Draconian measures that North America has supported have never worked,
and will never work.

It's time to try a new approach to deal with "the drug problem" and the
voracious appetite that normal, productive, law-abiding citizens have with
these types of controlled substances.

Stephen N. Belch
North Vancouver stevebelch@email.msn.com