DEFENDING POT

Dear Editor:

RE: Safety trumps privacy (Feb. 1, 2010 editorial)

"Sure marijuana is not even in the ballpark with crack cocaine, but it
does fall under the illegal category making it difficult to justify
its use."

I can think of about a dozen reasons to justify using cannabis. It has
dozens of medical applications, and even when smoked, its benefits
outweigh any dangers.

Also, chronic daily users don't suffer anywhere near the impairment
that a casual user would. By that I mean, there are people smoking 10
joints a day and you would never know it to look at them, while other
people are visibly impaired by just a few tokes.

It is different for everybody, but in all fairness, marijuana
shouldn't be classified the same as booze and other drugs when it
comes to the workplace: Be ready to do your job well, every day. How
you accomplish that is your own business.

Russell Barth

Nepean, Ontario