CANNABIS COLUMN SMEARED DUTCH

Re: What have they been smoking in Ottawa?

Rosie DiManno doesn't know what she is talking about when she says, "Or
maybe we want Canada to be more like the Netherlands, with half the
population walking around blissed-out and stupid and shiftless. They don't
call it dope for nothing."

First, the Dutch have a lower rate of cannabis use than does either Canada
or the U.S.

Second, Dutch marijuana users are neither "stupid nor shiftless."

They are like all other Dutch: They want to separate cannabis from hard
drugs and to be able to enjoy something that is far less damaging to both
the individual and to society than alcohol.

Is there any other group that the Star would smear with such a vile and
wholly false stereotype?

That sort of language poisons the public discourse.

Richard Cowan, Vancouver, B.C.