REJECT LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA

Dear Editor,

I am a 15-year-old student here in Camrose. I am bothered by the fact
that the Canadian government is looking into legalizing marijuana. I
hope that our legislators will reject legalizing this so-called
"harmless" drug.

As a youth, I hear that marijuana use is no longer a "big deal," that
"everybody's doing it." A former classmate of mine - beautiful,
intelligent, athletic - started using marijuana in eighth grade.
Before long, it didn't get her "high" enough and she started using
hardcore drugs, ending up hurting others and herself physically and
emotionally. I regret not letting her know I cared about her and now
I've lost that chance.

A lot of teens begin experimenting with pot, then 'graduate' to
mushrooms, hash and heroine. These aren't drugs that just give you a
'high;' these are drugs that kill. As a society, don't you want to
protect your youth? If you want us to have a safe future, do not
support the legalization of marijuana.

Fortunately, I have friends and family support to keep me from getting
into even the most harmless drugs. Not everyone has the amazing
friends I have or the moral support of a good family.

Some youth feel unloved, unwanted, and want to fit in. If it takes
doing drugs to forget these problems, they'll do them. The 'high' from
drugs wears off though, and the problems are still there.

I know that people who are ill would like to the legalization of
marijuana to deal with pain, but we have to face the reality that
suffering is part of life and that one day we will all die. For those
with physical pain, there are alternatives to marijuana. Can they not
see that millions of youth may suffer because of their plea for
legalization?

Depression, anxiety, and personality disturbances are all associated
with marijuana use. Research has shown that marijuana use has the
potential to cause problems in daily life or make a person's existing
problems worse. Because marijuana compromises the ability to learn and
remember information, the more a person uses marijuana the more he or
she is likely to fall behind in gaining intellectual, job or social
skills.

Marijuana's adverse impact on memory and learning can last for days or
weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off.

Don't stand by and watch the world fall into drug abuse because one
drug is so 'harmless.' I've seen what it does to people, and I'm sorry
that I never had the chance to say goodbye.

Liesl Schulte

Camrose