DRUG PARAPHERNALIA SHOULD NOT BE BANNED, JUST HIDDEN

Re: Bubble gum and blunt wraps

As a federal medical marijuana licence holder, who is also married to
one, I would like to point some things out.

1) This paraphernalia should be behind the counter, or at the very
least, out of the line of sight of minors. Identification should be
required. We should be selling pot the same way.

2) Pipes and papers and any other marijuana smoking appliances could
be used for medical use, so they cannot be completely prohibited.

Medical marijuana users need to get their gear someplace.

3) Junk food, which we sell and advertise to kids, will kill many
times more Canadians than all illegal drugs combined. In that light,
it is hard to think of drugs as the "scourge" the cops call them.
Maybe we should be "cracking down" on sugar and fat instead.

4) Banning the sale of these things will turn them into a
black-market commodity. If the availability of drugs such as pot is
any indication, a deeper prohibition and added enforcement will
likely cause more problems than it will fix.

5) Booze and drugs of all kinds are advertised constantly around kids
on TV and in print. To focus on one set of drugs or paraphernalia,
while allowing kids to watch beer and Viagra commercials and purchase
sugar, caffeine, and energy drinks is hypocritical in the extreme.
It is beyond absurd.

6) Salvia is mostly harmless, and not fun enough to do more than a
few times. But one can get seriously injured while they are tripping.
Bring a babysitter!

Beyond that, kids should find more interesting things to do than take
drugs.

RUSSELL BARTH

Ottawa