DRIVING STONED IS NOT LIKE BEING DRUNK

Re: "Driving-while-stoned suspension unfair: Lawsuit," The Leader, May 28

The thing about this egregious law is that anyone who caught a whiff
of second hand pot smoke three weeks or even two months ago could
still show "positive" on a police test, just as poppy-seed bagel
enthusiasts often test positive for opiates.

Imagine getting popped for drunk driving five days after a sip of
beer, and you see the kind of legal "stacked deck" that Canadian pot
users are up against.

The public has been bamboozled on an epic scale once again by cops and
lobbyists who are just looking to hand out more tickets.

Example: Police insist that marijuana is a major danger to road safety.

There is no science to support this assertion, as no study has ever
actually been done in Canada.

The studies that have been done on the subject of marijuana and
driving in other countries show that pot users drive slower and more
cautiously than non-users.

Other studies show that chronic daily users notice far less
"impairment" than a weekend toker does.

Now lets look at the numbers: Canadians smoke more pot per capita than
any other country in the world, we smoke the most potent pot in the
world, we admit to "toking and driving" more than any other country in
the world, and our population has been growing steadily for decades.

Yet, the per capita number of car crashes continues to drop, which
might suggest that pot use is actually making Canadian roads safer.

What a scam.

Russell Barth

Federally Licensed Medical Marijuana User,

Drug Reform Analyst

and Consultant,

Educators for Sensible Drug Policy