THERAPEUTIC POT

Re: Grits Split Over Legalization Of Marijuana, March 5.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, marijuana "is a dangerous
substance. We know it is a more potent carcinogen than smoke tobacco.
That's what the research tells us. That's irrefutable. That's science."
What has she been smoking?

The scientific consensus, as embodied in the Senate's 2002 committee report
on drugs, is that there has never been a single verified case of cancer in
a cannabis-only smoker, nor has anyone ever died from a cannabis overdose
or chronic cannabis smoking. That's irrefutable. That's actual science.

Tobacco kills millions of people every year, and cannabis hasn't caused a
single fatality. Cannabis has dozens of scientifically proven therapeutic
properties, tobacco has very few. Recent studies from Europe show that the
active ingredients in cannabis can even shrink tumours in rats, suggesting
it might serve as a future cancer treatment. Cannabis has already saved
countless lives of those suffering through chemotherapy, living with
epilepsy and MS, and even asthma.

Even if it were true that cannabis were equally as carcinogenic as tobacco,
that is still no justification for implementing criminal prohibition.
Regulation would do more to keep cannabis out of the hands of kids, and
would dry up the black market.

Russell Barth, Ottawa.