DON'T DENY CANNABIS HARM

THE saying goes: there are two things that are certain - deaths and taxes.
I would like to add that there is another thing that is certain: the
serious harm of cannabis, despite a bunch of civil libertarians who seek to
use it with impunity. Growing your own "dope" will increase the level of
harm and abuse in many WA families.

The cannabis user hates to be hassled about "doing dope". Sooner, rather
than later, the family is going to realise that the "dope plant" will be
the most important thing in their loved one's life.

The letter (Dope destroyed our suicidal son, 31/3) from devastated Kondinin
parents tells of their heartache and nightmare when their son suffered a
breakdown and was diagnosed with a mental illness after withdrawing from
cannabis. They say they were unaware how dependent he had become. These
parents must be very brave to speak out against the political correctness
of denial that exists in politics.

Conservative analysis of anecdotal evidence shows that more than 100 WA
parents each year are devastated by the serious harm to their son or
daughter caused by cannabis addiction. Some even commit suicide.

If the harm of cannabis is suppressed and denied by health professionals
for political expediency then we have a huge problem of getting appropriate
care for those with cannabis-induced mental illness.

G. MULLINS, Geraldton.