MARIJUANA: POT USE OFFENSIVE

Dear Editor,

Saturday was a beautiful day, so my family and I headed downtown for dinner
at a nice outdoor restaurant on Fraser Highway to enjoy the evening. After
we ate, my four-year-old son wanted to go play at the park, so we all walked
over to Douglas Park to enjoy the rest of the evening.

It was early and many families were also taking advantage of the glorious
weather at the park with their children.

We'd been there for only a short time when I noticed two young ladies in
their early 20's sitting on a park bench in the centre of the park, less
than 10 feet away. Many mothers often sit there to keep an eye on their
children as they play, and I noticed that they had young children with them
as well.

For some unexplained reason, my "radar" went off. They looked all around,
craning their necks to see everyone else in the park. I thought it was odd,
as their small children were playing directly in front of them.

As I watched, a big cloud of smoke erupted suddenly from the park bench.

They had decided to start smoking pot, in broad daylight, in the middle of a
playground with children all around. I was flabbergasted, shocked and very
upset with this complete disregard for people - mostly the children.

I asked them what they thought they were doing, and their feeble attempt of
a rebuttal was, "We moved over here to make sure the smoke wouldn't come
your way."

I was dumbfounded that they actually thought they were being considerate.

I was outraged that they had the audacity to sit there and think that they
were doing nothing wrong.

After a few words were exchanged, I told them that what they we're doing was
very un-cool, and left it at that. They responded with "Yeah, so!" and other
assorted intelligent comments.

As I left, I asked if they cared at all for the children.

Their response, as they sat there with marijuana smoke billowing from their
faces, and their children sitting on the grass in front of them, was, "Yeah,
we care about them."

I promptly took my family and left the park, shaking my head.

Without getting into any moral and ethical argument on the pros and cons of
smoking pot, what they did was inexcusable and completely lacking in
judgment and common sense. I support their right to smoke pot or do whatever
they want to do to their bodies, but when something like this is in direct
contradiction to my basic human rights, where does one draw the line?

When someone else's poor decision affects my family or me, what type of
protection do I have?

This is the direction society is heading, where people have complete
disregard for anyone or anything that's outside of the six feet that
surrounds them. It's evident everywhere, from road rage to school shootings
and drug use, that the moral decay is out of control.

I guess common sense really isn't all that common, after all.

Jim Bugg

Langley