STOP THE DECRIMINALIZATION OF MARIJUANA

Dear Sirs:

Joseph Califaro is chairman of the National Centre on Addiction and
Substance Abuse at Columbia University. He says that decriminalization of
marijuana would send a signal to Canadian teens that smoking pot can be
seen as a rite of passage. Whatever else it may be, that it is not.

Smoking pot is a dangerous game of Russian roulette that can ruin young
lives and devastate parents. That is why Canadians should reject any
proposals to decriminalize this dangerous drug.

Research indicates that among highschool kids, those who used marijuana at
least one time in the past month are 17 times more likely to use another
drug such as cocaine. In the U.S., more teens and children enter treatment
for marijuana abuse and dependence than for abuse and dependence on any
other drug and that includes alcohol.

Research shows marijuana causes respiratory infections, increased heart
rate, anxiety and panic attacks. A study last year associated cannabis
smoking with an increased risk of head and neck cancer.

We have known about the links to schizophrenia, damaged memory, motor
skills and ability to concentrate. Those are the findings of respected
researchers not the pleas of potheads or robotic ramblings of political
puppets. Biomedical research results scream at us - don't decriminalize
marijuana. Please stop the decriminalization of marijuana in the
legislation to be considered for passage by the House of Commons.

John M. Conrod, Thunder Bay