MOVE THE MARIJUANA DEBATE FORWARD

Dear Editor:

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to watch the memorial for the
fallen RCMP on TV from Edmonton. There were many parts of it that brought a
tear to my eye.

Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson was the leading speaker and provided a
statement, which proved to be a summary for me. She said, "True honour is
not for those who have received but for those who have given." Indeed the
whole ceremony was an honour to those four men. Prime Minister Paul Martin
made a statement that brings me to the point of this letter. He said, "We
owe a debt to those four officers."

Those four men paid the price. We cannot let them die in vain.

This recent incident in Alberta wasn't initially a marijuana deal, but
there is a definite connection. It certainly has brought the topic up front
and centre. I like the idea of getting marijuana out of the Criminal Code,
but please bear with me. We need to take a serious look at everything that
might be called a "drug." I feel that we need to look at each one on an
individual basis and start asking: "What effect does it have?" and "What
damage can it do?" How do each of those other "things" compare with what
many of us have learned the hard way? We need to save the more beneficial
ones for those who may want to indulge. We need to come down with a heavy
hammer on the more harmful substances.

I liked what I read in the March 9 edition of the North Shore News in the
column by Jerry Paradis, Taking Advantage of a Tragedy. I particularly
liked his closing paragraph, but now is a time to rise above any pointing
fingers of blame.

These men died for a greater cause. In his column, he mentioned Anne
McClellan and how she mentioned taking a look at decriminalization of
marijuana. That is the ground I'm standing on.

Bear in mind this is not coming from an old hippie. I am past 65 and I have
not tasted marijuana. I smoked common tobacco for 15 years and in quitting
I learned what a stranglehold that stuff had on me.

My dad smoked a pipe or cigars for many years, and even though my mother
never smoked anything, she was the one who died of lung cancer.

I can remember reading an article some 30 years ago, which compared
marijuana and tobacco.

The detail I remember from that study was that tobacco was more addictive
and more harmful than marijuana. I rather expect that a modern study would
come to a similar conclusion. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. Every
drug out there needs this kind of scrutiny.

On another level I asked a friend, who has tried marijuana, what he thought
of it. He said he got a bit of a high from it, but his open preference
would be alcohol, even though the alcohol gave him a worse hangover.

From a personal perspective, I no longer use either alcohol or tobacco,
but a question remains: Would I try marijuana for a case of persistent
pain? These are all details that would have to be studied in order to make
a positive case for marijuana.

Still on the case for marijuana there is one more major factor to consider.
The U.S. tobacco farmers would not be happy.

Could marijuana be an alternative crop for those people? Let's take our
time, do our homework, do our promoting and then take it out of the
Criminal Code all over North America.

As I see it, the unity of spirit throughout North America is an important
part of the freedom that we all enjoy. I feel that we need to pass the
required legislation on marijuana here in Canada by way of demonstrating
the broad Canadian view.

We need to pass it on the condition that we leave it on the shelf until the
rest of this part of the world come on stream with us.

I have heard it said, "Prohibition didn't work for alcohol and it's not
working for marijuana."

The awesome tribute to those four men, I rather expect, must surely have
stirred a pride in our whole country and not just our great police force.

Cecil Bund

North Vancouver