PEOPLE STILL BELIEVE PAST SCIENCE

Dear Editor,

The problem Mr. Erbacher discusses reaches far beyond homeopathy
[Pseudoscience dangerous, March 1 Letters, Langley Advance].

For example, many plants have medicinal properties, like garlic and
ginseng and coffee, but overuse of those plants can cause sickness and
even death. Water is good for you, but if you try to drink too much
too fast, you can die. Nutmeg is harmless in low doses, but is a
powerful hallucinogen in large doses, and a deadly poison in higher
doses.

Which brings me to marijuana. As a Federally Licensed Medical
Marijuana User, I am constantly amazed by just how wildly misinformed
Canadians really are. It is like they have never even heard of Google.

Not only do far too many people still believe wholeheartedly in all
manner of easily disproved lies about marijuana, they refuse to listen
when you say, =93Well, actually, recent studies show=85=94

They are convinced that pot is dangerous, and don't want to hear any
more about it. They will mention =93science=94 when talking about how bad
pot is, but when you tell them about more recent science, they scoff!

The issue is fear, lack of critical thinking, and the treasuring of
belief over substance. It is an epidemic problem in Canada.

Worst of all, people often accuse medical marijuana users of being
=93believers=94 =AD as if we are no better than these nincompoops who stick
by crystals, The Secret, and homeopaths.

The difference is, there are more than 20,000 scientific studies
showing the safety and efficacy of cannabis, and the U.S. government
has even held a patent on marijuana's cancer-fighting properties since
1974.

So this isn't a case of belief, it is documented scientific fact:
Marijuana is really, really good for you.

But, because the government and police say it is really, really bad,
many people still believe that.

Even some pot users seem to want to keep believing it, too, which is
the most alarming thing of all. They don't want to hear the truth,
because then they might have to admit that they have been fooled for
so long.

It just goes to prove the old saying: =93You can lead a horse to water,
but you can't make it THINK.=94

Russell Barth