PROTECT YOUTH FROM DANGEROUS MARIJUANA

In his Aug. 12 letter, "Time to decriminalize weed," William Perry
seems to feel that if the harmful drug marijuana was to be legalized,
crime would be greatly reduced.

Why am I so concerned about the dangerous drug marijuana?

Members of the Institute for Social Research (ISR) have found
"Substance abuse is still common at age 35, UM study finds. The odds
of smoking at the age of 35 were more than 12 times higher for
participants who used cigarettes during the month prior to their
twelfth grade survey than for those who had never smoked by their
senior year. The odds of smoking at age 35 were 42 times higher than
for those who had never smoked by their senior year. Similar patterns
were found for the use of marijuana and other illicit drugs. When
compared to those who had not tried marijuana by the twelfth grade,
individuals who had tried marijuana by the twelfth grade had eight
times the odds of using marijuana at age 35."

Should we not support our police in trying to control this harmful
drug even if it means that some of their actions are similar to our
American cousins?

Why should the law-abiding public have to accommodate criminals and
criminal activity?

I would suggest that a way to control criminal drug activity is for
Canadians to stop buying drugs.

Would this not cancel out the profit motive? No customer, no sale, no profit.

If drugs were to be legalized and in 20 years when they are found to
be a health hazard, would not the government be held liable?

Think of the harm tobacco has done. Do we want to repeat this catastrophe?

Let's protect our youth.

Eric Myrholm