MARIJUANA USE IS SAFER THAN DRINKING ALCOHOL

Re: 'Pot growers, sellers are breaking the law' (Daily News, Jan. 2)

Susan Schleppe's letter about jail sentences for growing marijuana was
so ill informed and illogical that I hardly know where to start.

First, she's wrong about what the Senate did to Bill C-15 (mandatory
jail for drug offences). The mandatory sentences remain in place for
growing even one cannabis plant if the garden is in a rental or poses
a potential safety risk to the public.

Knowing one's subject matter should be a prerequisite to opining on
it.

Second, she says drug use is associated with crime, failed
relationships and mental illness (citing the largest drug propagandist
organization in the world).

But marijuana is safer than alcohol -- our most dangerous drug -- and
the only reason "drug use" is associated with crime is because of our
juvenile and harmful policy of prohibition.

Finally, she provides the trite observation that it is illegal, and
therefore concludes that jailing fellow citizens is an appropriate
option.

I suspect Schleppe is a hypocrite on this. Speeding is illegal, and it
kills more Canadians in a year than marijuana has in history. Does she
speed? Does she advocate mandatory jail for speeding? If not, why not?

The bottom line is that most Canadians want to end marijuana
prohibition.

Despite this, the minority government is ramping up the drug war. It
is time for the opposition parties to do what they are supposed to do:
oppose this legislation when Parliament returns.

Kirk Tousaw

Mill Bay