'REEFER MADNESS' NOTIONS ARCHAIC

Editor,

Regarding "There's no denying substance abuse problems," [The
Chief, Nov. 12], as an activist and as someone who uses several grams
of marijuana every day, I can tell you that Denise Evans'
anti-marijuana screed defies both science and history.

Marijuana is not "addictive" in the true sense of the word, but can be
habit forming. The notion that pot use can "paralyze one from moving
forward in life" is the most outlandish Reefer Madness balderdash I
have read in years.

Also, there is no evidence to show that cannabis damages brain tissue,
and recent science shows how pot actually stimulates tissue growth in
certain sections of the brain.

One should also consider that, for every person whose life is damaged
by their pot use, about 10,000 have their lives improved by it.

Think of all the people whose lives have been positively affected by
marijuana - people like Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, George Harrison,
Paul McCartney, Ringo Star, Jack Black, Dave Chappelle, Tommy Chong,
Cameron Diaz, Woody Harrelson, Shia LaBeouf, Bill Maher, Cheech Marin,
Johnny Cash, Method Man, Pierre Berton, Pierre Trudeau, Bill Murray,
Willie Nelson, Barack Obama, Mary-Louise Parker, Amy Poehler, Sean
Penn, Michelle Philips, Michael Phelps, Redman, Seth Rogen, Seth
McFarlane, Seth Green, Snoop Dogg, Sarah Silverman, Katt Williams,
Owen Wilson, Neil Young, George Carlin, Jerry Garcia, Bob Marley,
Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Pierce Brosnan,
Bill Gates, Steven King, Sarah McLachlan, Montel Williams, Gene Krupa,
Buddy Rich, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Dan Aykroyd, Lewis Black,
Michael Bloomberg, Sir Richard Branson, Pierce Brosnan, George W.
Bush, Fidel Castro, Neal Cassady, Bing Crosby, David Crosby, Matt
Damon, Rodney Dangerfield, Ben Affleck, Bob Denver, John Denver,
Melissa Etheridge, Kevin Smith, Alanis Morissette, Walker Evans, Errol
Flynn, Morgan Freeman, Art Garfunkel, Newt Gingrich, Alan Ginsberg,
Jackie Gleason, Larry Hagman, Woody Harrelson, Ed Harris, Daryl
Hannah, David Hockney, Victor Hugo, Chrissie Hynde, Grace Slick, John
F. Kennedy, John Kerry, Queen Latifah, Phil Lesh, Norman Mailer, Bob
Marley, Groucho Marx, Matthew McConaughey, Frances McDormand, George
Michael, John Stuart Mill, Robert Mitchum, Jack Nicholson, Pablo
Picasso, Ross Rebagliati, Arthur Rimbaud, Diego Rivera, Susan
Sarandon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, William Shakespeare, and 2010 Best
Actor Oscar-winner Jeff Bridges.

I would much rather be named on a list with these people than with
people like Denise Evans.

People have been using drugs longer than we have been using
language.

Drug use is normal and human. Abstinence and oppressive drug laws are
unnatural.

Russell Barth

Nepean, Ont.