FATIGUE WORSE FOR DRIVING THAN MARIJUANA

Re: Pot kids growing concern for cops, Nov. 13.

Chief La Barge should know cannabis isn't a narcotic, but the word does
make a nice sound bite, "illicit narcotic".

It sounds good in the news: "We're fighting the deadly scourge of illicit
narcotics."

We should all learn something from the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program.

The drunk chooses his drink, not the other way around. The issue of public
nuisance and even danger caused by impaired citizens is always about the
person, not about whatever substance he has chosen.

The host of legal chemicals found in common cold remedies include a main
precursor of speed, pseudoephedrine.

Most are intoxicating and yet none receive the attention from Mothers
Against Drunk Driving that cannabis does.

Worldwide tests show cannabis impairs driving in a way that makes a person
less aggressive, more likely to drive at a constant speed and less likely
to pass others.

Anyone taking anything from prescription pain or mood medication to common
cold remedies would use public transportation or stay home.

Fatigue causes more traffic injuries than alcohol. Why is it more
acceptable for a person who hasn't slept in the past 24 hours to kill
someone on the road than if they had taken a few drinks or smoked a few joints?

Is it more justified; the death less tragic? Why is it agencies such as
MADD aren't crusading for technology to determine if a person is impaired
by lack of sleep?

The drug war and all its problems such as gang violence, home labs and grow
houses are just another alcohol prohibition.

Bathtub gin killed and crippled many, stills occasionally exploded in fire.
Gang violence escalated as the government created new and ever more
military-style agencies to fight the war on vice.

Eventually, people decided war on the citizenry was the wrong way to deal
with the issue.

Alcohol causes problems in society, but they are well understood and easily
recognized only because the industry as a whole is open to public scrutiny,
not left to be run in the shadows of criminality.

I can only hope Canadians believe war isn't the answer to every problem.

M. MCLEOD, THORNHILL