NO SIGN OF REEFER MADNESS

Editor, The Record:

RE: More support needed to fight marijuana grow-ops

Robert T. Rock's assertion that "We're setting ourselves up for an
explosion in mental health problems as the long-term effects of use
become more apparent." doesn't hold water. Not only have the
"studies" been repeatedly and soundly debunked, the math doesn't add up.

Canadians smoke the most potent pot in the world, we smoke more of it
than any other country in the world, and teen pot use has increased
four times in the past 30 years. There should have been a
corresponding increase in the number of schizophrenia and psychosis
cases in Canadian hospitals over that time, but the number of such
cases has remained about the same at about 1.1% of the population. So
while pot use has increased four times, psychosis has remained the
same. So much for that "reefer madness" campaign.

And as for fixing the "grow-op" problem, how much more evidence do we
need before we realize that the police and government approach is
actually causing more problems than it is solving?

Russell Barth, federally licensed medical marijuana user