PARTY DOES NOT BACK POT USE FOR YOUTH

Re: Troubled by youth's view of marijuana (letter to the editor, Feb.
3, Sentinel-Review).

The Woodstock Sentinel-Review -- "As adults, we need to promote and
model healthier choices and insist that future election campaigns are
used to promote serious political parties, not psychoactive drugs,
especially to our children".

I'm wondering which serious political party is Mr Robinson referring
to and does he understand the word psychoactive? This word means many
things - smelling a cup of coffee results in a psychoactive reaction.

As far as political views go, Mr. Robinson took no time in declaring
his political animosity and that is his right, as a Canadian.

Unfortunately Mr. Robinson was so biased in his opinion, he cared not
to hear what was said. Far from making pot beautiful or acceptable, I
spoke of the reality of the situation. Addiction is harmful. I
believe in reduced access for minors. There are currently no controls
on marijuana apart from poorly enforced Criminal Code measures.

Criminal measures do little, if anything, for the underlying problem
of addiction. Criminals leaving prisons generally are in no better
shape than when they went in. Jailing people has no societal benefit,
except to get the problem out of your face for a little while.

As far as studies go, there are hundreds of studies showing opposite
reactions to marijuana than what Mr. Robinson has claimed. In fact,
the University of Saskatchewan recently completed a study financed by
the federal government in part and through research grants from the
university itself. Basically the study says high doses of THC can
make you smarter. It can also reduce depression and anxiety.

Although one could easily come up with hundreds of studies that point
to either direction, there really would be no point in plunging into
an argument over whose study is right and whose is wrong.

For myself, my position comes at great cost. Trying to bring light to
a major domestic problem like pot, comes with difficulty. Trying to
change the perception of morality is not one of my goals. Moving the
system from its criminal foundation to a treatment-based program
would accommodate the needs of the addicted. The criminal justice
system currently handles 75,000 Canadians per year for marijuana offences.

The message to youth? I don't see anything different about my
message, than say that of the Christian Heritage Party that opposes
same-sex marriage or opposes the rights of women or opposes anything
non-Christian. Morally, telling people not to like gay people is
probably more harmful than telling people that marijuana should be
regulated. At least I can acknowledge that perhaps not everyone is a
pot smoker.

If the letter writer had paid attention, he would have heard the
message about access and regulation and the idea that marijuana
should be controlled and limited to an adult population. He would
have also heard that spending money on prohibition is wasteful and
the tax rewards would pay for many increased social expenditures.

Presently, people are smoking pot, people are using the health-care
system for pot-related illness, yet we recoup nothing to put towards
these costs.

Yes, the system is flawed, but if you believe that repressing
independent, individual thinking is correct, than perhaps you have no
place teaching.

Jim Bender - Woodstock