READER WAS A REAL 'DOPE'

To the editor:

Letter writer Pastor Ken Gorham is trying to revive the lifeless corpse
known as the "Gateway Paradigm" which presents this view "99 out of 100
hard drug users started with marijuana."

What he wants you to think is that all marijuana users will become hard
drug users.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

It is acknowledged that Canada has between two and three million casual and
medical marijuana smokers.

Yet in all of Canada we have only 40,000 to 70,000 hard drug users. You do
the math.

According to the "Gateway Paradigm" we should have between two and three
million hard drug users. Where did they all go?

As you can see the "Gateway Paradigm" is junk mathematics.

The ratio of pot smokers to hard drug users is perhaps about 40 to 60 pot
smokers for every hard drug user.

Also significantly, and miraculously, none of these folks ever start with
alcohol, tobacco, coffee, or tea - always marijuana.

The "Gateway Paradigm" is a product of a paranoid war on plants and plant
users, and as with any war - the first casualty is always the truth.

Chuck Beyer, Victoria, B.C.

(Yes indeed it is...)