MUST BE GOOD FOR US

Editor:

Re: The raw and ugly side of life, Observer, Aug. 19.

Bravo to Bert de Vink! Finally some common sense respecting the
positive, beneficial aspects of this most amazing gift to Humankind
from the Creator.

Marijuana, had the current group of banksters and oil industry owners
not wanted to replace hemp with their petrochemical products starting
back in the 1930s, would not have received the negative publicity that
it did.

All the efforts of big industry and government to create a state of
fear and loathing with respect to the cannabis plant was intentional
and planned.

In order to discredit anything the media must first malign it and make
people fearful and that is precisely what the establishment did to
this plant. The reasons for its steady and ongoing popularity with
people are well established and varied just as the plant itself is:

. It acts as a soothing balm for the mind and releases a person from
the confining and restricting mental controls that are imposed upon us
by the state, the media and those in business who wish to keep control
over society.

. It works as a pain reliever for the many many people who suffer from
various debilitating diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, etc.

. It is a spiritual sacrament and is an important aid in helping
individuals to transcend the boundaries imposed upon them by a society
that promotes unhealthy lifestyles, greed and environmental
degradation (to mention but a few).

. It offers people a healthy alternative to drinking alcohol and hard
drugs as you mention in your article.

. All of this is but a part of the overall benefits from the plant as
a whole. Its fiber alone is worth its weight in gold in terms of the
multiple, natural uses that it contains.

The fact that this benign plant/medicine has been so desperately
controlled by the government is living proof that is MUST be good for
the people.

Until it is legalized and people are totally free to grow it and use
it as they see fit we will know that we are living in a police state
and under a totalitarian regime.

Arthur Topham

Cottonwood, B.C.