MARIJUANA LOBBY ALIVE AND WELL ON TIMES OPINION PAGES

THE EDITOR:

Re: 'Prohibition past its time,' Times, Dec. 5.

The pro-marijuana lobby seems to be alive and well funded. The amount of
information they are disseminating is beyond belief. The dedication of this
lobby confirms to me that the mind-altering drug must be addictive to many
individuals who will work very hard to ensure their supply, or to be sure
that they can continue selling to protect their income.

Checking the Internet I found there were over 1.4 million entries referring
to marijuana while child poverty had 1.26 million and homelessness well
under half a million.

Does this give an indication of the priorities in today's society?

It appears that the pro-marijuana lobby may have influenced Christina Toth.
In her Dec. 5 column in your paper she says "prohibition past its time." In
this column she states in part that "the officers could be using their
considerable skills combating real crime: child pornography, spousal
assault, theft and those making and selling the truly destructive drugs, if
it were not for the marijuana prohibition."

I agree that the police need more resources to combat all crime. They also
need the support of the community. A great deal of police time is spent in
justifying their actions and seeing criminals back on the street in a very
short time.

It appears that the criminal has full protection under the law and the
police seem to have very little.

If our youth have easy access to this mind-altering, possibly addictive
drug, should preventing this access not be as important as theft and
traffic control? Is it possible that the current easy access to marijuana
may be a factor in some of the escalating youth problems and violence?

Does Toth feel that many of her friends who enjoy a "toke" once in a while
are setting a good example for our youth? What would be the result if these
friends were unable to get the drug? Would it make their life miserable?
Would they be bored? Would it affect their life in a negative way?

If so, who or what is in control?

What positive affect has the use of tobacco and overuse of alcohol had on
our society? Toth refers to marijuana as an herb [World Book Dictionary
shows it as a poisonous drug, smoked as a narcotic]. It may now be classed
as an herb but is a mind-altering, possibly addictive drug. The
pro-marijuana lobby seems to be trying to gain support for their product by
suggesting government would reap no end of tax revenue if the product were
to be legalized. Look at the tobacco industry to see what health cost we
may risk in doing so. The cost to society would be far greater than any
benefits derived from the tax.

At what age would Toth approve of children having access to the drug? What
controls should be put in place to ensure that the drug is controlled?

What is our responsibility as adults in protecting our youth?

Eric Myrholm
Abbotsford