MARIJUANA DEBATE IN CANADA STILL CONTROVERSIAL

Editor:

The great lie of legalizing marijuana would save us millions, end the
gangs, prostitution crime and make us all a happy and safe society is a joke.

As Mr. Barth stated that even a 10 year old could the math and
history. Let's take a good look at what happened to organized crime
when the running of booze ended after Probation. All the mobsters,
gang member and assorted lowlifes gave up and went legit right? They
tossed aside their wicked ways and embraced society. Well maybe if
you smoke enough dope you would buy that.

The reality is they shifted to different illegal means of making
money. Does anyone over 10 really think that after making $500 or
$600 dollars a day these pushers are going to settle for $10/hour at
the local fast food joint? Yes there are benefits to marijuana. But
the question is do they outweigh the risks? Here are some studies
that show a different side of this "harmless herb".

"Last week, another study published in The Lancet medical journal
suggested that using marijuana may increase the likelihood of
becoming psychotic, with even infrequent use potentially raising the
overall small risk by up to 40%. The three-year Thorax study involved
339 people in New Zealand:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-07-31-marijuana-study_N.htm 7/31/2007

"The Australian Medical Association has called on the state
government of Western Australia to introduce harsher marijuana laws.
It warned of an increased risk of schizophrenia among pot smokers,
citing a new review of international research on the links between
marijuana and mental illness." http://www.otagonorml.com/node/171 and
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-69758099.html

Funny how these studies are never mentioned by the pro-dope gang. Or
how about the fact that Holland is looking at making marijuana
illegal again. Crime has not decreased thanks to legalizing
marijuana. They are finding more hard drugs coming into the country.

"IS CANNABIS A GATEWAY DRUG? - IT CAN BE!

Of course they won't all progress, but almost 100% of heroin users
started on it.

Youngsters smoking one joint a week are 60 times more likely to
progress, the strongest association is among 14-15 year olds
(Fergusson and Horwood, Addiction 2000). Genetics was ruled out when
a study of 300 pairs of same-sex twins discovered those using
cannabis before the age of 17, were 2-5 times more likely to have
drug problems and dependency later in life, than their non-using
siblings (Linskey etal, JAMA 2003):

www.drugprevent.org.uk/New%20look%20of%20Website/politics_items/Is%20cannabis%20gateway%20drug.html#is%20cannabis%20gateway%20drug

Should marijuana be a medicine? Yes. And as carefully controlled as
morphine or Demerol. But to say it should be legalized, well, let's
not leave that up to a 10-year-old.

Tony Resendes,
Swift Current