DECRIMINALIZING DOPE

I had to write in to say I agreed with most of your editorial. The
Conservatives reverting back to charging and imprisoning Canadians
for minor possession of marijuana, particularly those who use it for
medicinal purposes, is a ludicrous waste of time, money and energy.
Punishment and suppression is not the answer. However, I'm for
decriminalization, not legalization as you advocate.

I'm incredibly tired of liberal, left-wing magazines like Eye Weekly
and NOW stating how harmless marijuana is compared to other drugs.
Glorifying pot as a recreational drug with pleasant side effects is
only giving half the story, which is irresponsible, biased journalism.

Before I go on, I should clarify that I'm not a staunch,
anal-retentive, uptight, right-wing, anti-drug type. My
hippie-generation parents also thought pot was harmless. And that's
what I grew up believing. As a matter of fact, as a young adult, I
used with them. For over 20 years I held this belief, until I reached
the point where I was using heavily every day and always had to have
some on hand.

As a result, I distanced and isolated myself from others, was
unfocused with foggy thought processes, married and divorced a
dealer, was incredibly depressed, didn't give a shit about my
appearance, ate like a pig, went through a tonne of Visine and was
deathly pale. On the health side, as a non-smoker of tobacco, I had
smoker's cough because my lungs were filled with tar (they're still
in bad shape). And my memory's the pits.

Hate to be a bummer, but that's the downside of Pot the Wonder Drug,
folks. Drugs such as pot and alcohol can be used recreationally, but
for many it's a vicious, vicious circle.

I feel that a reality check should be taken into account the next
time you pontificate about the joys of pot use and how it should be
bought over the counter. It's bad enough to see people, particularly
underage kids, openly using an unhealthy legalized drug like nicotine
and having to breathe that in. In the nearly five years since I quit
using, I feel like I'm part of life again and am incredibly grateful
that my recreation is not dependent upon any substance use.

NAME WITHHELD