IS POT THE PROBLEM?

Jimmy Kapches article "Pot: No Longer a Harmless Head Rush" (Gazette
137:22) was ludicrous and ill-conceived. I am sick of people using the
tragic death of the four Mounties in Alberta to promote their own anti-drug
values. It was well known, by family and acquaintances, that James Roszko
was a gun-totting sociopath, and clearly mentally unstable, and that those
shots fired had little to do with trying to save his pot plants. It is not
the substance that is the issue here: it is the people, and their lack of a
moral conscience, that should be addressed.

Furthermore, your argument that people who boycott Starbucks and Nike
should also sanction their pot smoking habits is ridiculous.

Marijuana is a not a corporately owned product, and therefore your
actions would not be heard by any CEO or manager of any company.
Boycotting a product is an attempt by the consumer to express their
dissatisfaction with a corporation or company's policy or method of
conduction business. Boycotting 'pot' would be pointless and idiotic,
if it was in attempt to make any kind of statement that was intended
to matter.

Lastly, your comment about "coercing families of illegal immigrants
shipped in from China to grow plants in their house in Oakville or
Mississauga," is ridiculous. I've lived in Mississauga for five years,
and I know many kids whose parents are Chinese immigrants and have
started businesses from the ground up, proving that immigrants do not
have to resort to illegal means in order become successful. In no way
I am trying to downplay or excuse the appalling circumstances of what
went in Mayerthrope, Al., but people who try and sensationalize these
tragedies, and point fingers in completely misguided directions only
make these situations even more difficult, and unnecessarily
complicated, to deal with.

Vanessa Green

Second-year Journalism University of King's College