LETTER OF THE DAY

A BIG STEP BACKWARD

Sure, let's strengthen the marijuana laws, that's a good idea
(Editorial, Jan. 14). We can go back to:

1) Importing hashish sold by the Taliban to finance their wars, as we
did in the late 1980s before the hydroponic set-ups were popular. Back
then it was the Soviets our money was fighting ... now it's the Americans.

(Interestingly, Afghan hash has been turning up on the streets again
in small amounts, and because of its quality, it will make a comeback
if locally grown pot is not available.)

2) Ignoring the studies that have concluded marijuana is no worse than
alcohol or cigarettes. We can pretend pot's worse until everyone,
including the children, realizes the hypocrisy involved and starts to
ignore "drug education." We can continue to clog up our courts with
infractions like possession of two joints, smoking a joint and
cultivation of three plants.

3) Jailing people who smoke up, thus tearing families apart and
driving a whole segment of society underground while we merrily drink
our cocktails and make toasts to the politicians for getting tough on
the "reefer fiends."

Hmmm ... maybe the idea's not as good as I thought. In fact, it sounds
like a big step backward to me.

Intelligent debate about the future of this issue is a must, yet
knee-jerk editorials like the one on Jan. 13 don't offer new ideas,
they just seek a return to the old status quo that wasn't working.

D. Finlay

Elmvale

(Our point was that TODAY'S status quo isn't working. And we said full
legalization was also a realistic option)