POT SMOKERS ARE UNCARING SELF-ABUSERS

Editor: In response to Travis Erbacher's letter (The Times, Oct. 1),
I have this to say: People smoke cannabis to stimulate the brain's
emergency production of endorphins, which is triggered by its natural
reaction to severe synaptic brain connection damage.

They do this instead of straightening out their attitudes and their
understanding of others enough to stimulate love from others,
something which ultimately does the exact same thing. This is
nature's way of rewarding you for good behaviour. So what they do is
self-abuse, hands down.

He argued that cannabis occurs naturally. That is irrelevant. Uranium
happens to occur naturally as well. It's what one does with naturally
occurring things that causes us as a society to prohibit one another
to possess such harmful things such as cannabis.

This substance is most commonly burnt, and thus is bound to wind up
in some unsuspecting individual's lungs. Some of these people may be
very sensitive and may not wish to have mind-altering substances in
their systems at all.

I am indignant at the fact that most pot smokers seem to be
inconsiderate of others and appear to be in love with pot itself.
They seem to worship the practice of getting high as if it were a
religion. These are obvious clear signs that they have become
dependent and ruled by the substance.

They seem to think they know more than others, when in fact many are
so absent-minded that they don't even seem to realize that the
substance is illegal. It has been known to be used to be baked into
cookies and fudge that could inadvertently wind up in the hands of a
child or some innocent individual who may not wish to get high.

Despite warnings, many people continue to smoke pot in front of their
children and they continue to expose them to pot smoke, causing them
to have behavioural problems together with learning disabilities at
school and lower grades.

Erbacher openly denounced the "Just say no" campaign, one started by
those who care about our future health. He claimed that authorities
disclosing facts about harmful substances is the reason why children
grow to despise authority, when in fact, that is just a reflection of
what kind of parents they had.

Well-loved children, who have been brought up to respect authority,
do not rebel because they are brought up to know enough so as to be
able to make amendments to our laws through due process. They avoid
the kind of ignorance he displayed in his letter to you.

Sending out the message that breaking well-meaning laws through
ignorance results in jail time,is well worth the effort, if those
punished also get the message that not everyone would like to smell
the stuff nor be affected by it.

Whether it is the smoke itself, or the deception that those that
smoke it practise as they refuse to change their attitudes, they
continue to fool themselves.

Erbacher lectured about morals. He doesn't seem to have any. He
talked about child abuse, he himself sounded more like an abuser by
even bringing up the issue.

He argued that we should all be free to choose to have distorted
consciousnesses, which causes others to have to put up with persons
suffering from such a condition.

Such attitudes eventually render these people as public charges, and
in the end wind up costing more than someone who wished to commit
suicide - something which the law has not allowed individuals to do,
if attempted in front of other people.

Why can't ignorant people like him ever just shut up, smoke another
one and leave us drug-free kids alone?

Edy D., Langley