DEMONIZING CANNABIS BREEDS DISRESPECT FOR LAW

Dear Editor,

I am concerned about the false reporting and misuse of funds by Jennifer
Jenkins R.N. B.Sc.N., Hamilton's Public Health Promotion Specialist
("Shades of Reefer Madness," Nov. 25). Ms. Jenkins says in a press release
that, "Marijuana does have negative health effects such as impairment in
judgment, coordination, perception, and loss of motivation. It contains
more tar than cigarettes and leads to the same respiratory ailments as
tobacco." Anyone who uses or has studied cannabis would recognize a tone of
errors when reading the overt misinformation in the series of propaganda
campaigns targeting our children.

The most disturbing part about the anti-pot message is when Ms. Jenkins
falsely reports that "research shows a link between the development of
depression and the use of marijuana," and when kids find out this is false,
they tend to disregard the real dangers of "hard drugs" and we lose
tremendous credibility.

As a result, Canadian teens are using cannabis at rates never before seen.
Teens are turning to marijuana as a drug of choice, regardless of the
confused policy of the Federal Government, which continues to demonize
cannabis and offers a so-called "decriminalization" policy without the
foresight of providing a legal, regulated market.

Not only does this breed disrespect for the rule of law, it demonstrates an
abdication of responsibility on the part of our elected leaders and our city.

The study that Ms. Jenkins keeps quoting, by Queen's University in
partnership with Health Canada, demonstrates that the Canadian drug policy
on cannabis is an abject failure.

When kids cannot access beer, wine, or spirits because they exist in a
regulated framework that demands ID, they turn to their local marijuana
dealer--who never asks for proof of legal age because of zero oversight and
zero controls.

Furthermore, if cannabis possession is only decriminalized without
regulating the market, Canadian youth will continue to be the targets of
increased police enforcement and victims of the criminal elements in the
unregulated marijuana market.

It's time for a new approach.

It's time our politicians tried to solve the problem instead of trying to
make it go away.

Prohibition has never succeeded from keeping marijuana from being consumed,
it has simply made it more attractive and more dangerous.

We need to take the criminal element out of the equation and adopt
regulations which allow Canadians--not drug dealers-- to decide who
marijuana is sold to. We need to follow the recommendations of the Fraser
Institute to regulate and tax the sale of marijuana, taking the estimated
$2 billion a year out of the pockets of organized crime and putting it into
the federal coffers for social programs like health care, home care, and
day care, which are all drastically needed in Hamilton.

Chris Goodwin

Hamilton Compassion Society