WE SHOULD LEARN FROM PROHIBITION

As a 55-year-old Canadian who occasionally smokes pot, I have to put my two
cents' worth in on the decriminalization debate.

Let's be rational adults about this. We know that marijuana is no more
addictive than sugar or caffeine, nor is it any more a gateway drug than sugar,
caffeine, chocolate, alcohol or tobacco. Used in moderation, as I have (and my
friends' entire generation has), it causes no long-term problems. We are right
where the U.S. was in the '30s with prohibition: everyone could get it 24/7 and
its continual criminalization gave rise and empowerment to organized criminal
gangs (and their subsequent turf wars). So, let's get reasonable about this
issue: legalize it, control it (as we do tobacco and alcohol), tax it and get
on with solving the real problems of this mixed-up planet.

Eric Kirkpatrick,

Vancouver