WRONG SUBSTANCE ILLEGAL

For Walley Starchuk (Letters, March 18) compare pot to alcohol and
tobacco is like comparing the hauling ability of a pickup truck to a
semi. Sure, they are both trucks, but two very different vehicles.

I can tell you first hand that the ill effects of alcohol consumption
(and over indulgence) does little if anything to deter people from
drinking. I've watched people drink themselves to death, and not a
single person quit after hearing so. I've had family members die from
cancer, and even I still smoke.

Studies have shown that marijuana poses a significantly smaller risk
of addiction than any other drug out there, while tobacco states right
on the label that it can be more addictive than heroin or cocaine. How
about we get our priorities right? Tobacco kills, just ask Health
Canada. Alcohol-related deaths continue to plague our society, either
directly like a poison, or indirectly like a car accident. Better yet,
has tobacco or alcohol been recommended as medicine by the medical
community in recent decades?

The fact that the consequences of getting high are significantly less
harmful (and even beneficial in certain instances) than being drunk or
smoking tells me that perhaps tobacco and alcohol should be
criminalized as well as, if not instead of, marijuana.

Ryan Harris

Edmonton