MARIJUANA IS STILL ILLEGAL

Ronald Deere writes (Letters, May 29) ''the government says it's OK to have
15 grams'' of marijuana. In fact, marijuana is still illegal; the only
thing the government is saying is that it understands that many of the
people who smoke it are decent upstanding, law-abiding citizens in every
aspect of their life, save one: they occasionally like to smoke a joint.
Now if caught these people will not risk jail time and a criminal record.

The government has also proposed a $245-million National Drug Strategy
aimed at educating people about the dangers of marijuana, including
$910,000 just to lecture about driving under the influence.

There are also stiffer penalties for driving under the influence of
marijuana. As for the marijuana-smoker Deere stopped from getting into his
truck, the same situation could have happened just as easily with someone
who was drunk. In fact, Deere would probably have had a harder time
stopping a drunk. No matter what the substance, there are always going to
be stupid people who abuse it .

Jordan Conway

Pointe-Claire