MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION IS LONG OVERDUE

I am very happy that the Canadian government is finally considering the
decriminalization of marijuana, although it is long overdue.

The dangers of cigarettes and alcohol far outweigh the dangers of smoking
marijuana. There needs to be proper research done into this substance to
determine exactly its benefits. For years the government has tried to tell
us how bad drugs were. It has classified marijuana in the same category as
heroin and cocaine.

As a teenager, I was smart enough to realize that marijuana wasn't really
that harmful (my brain didn't fry like an egg, that is). I concluded that I
was being misled and started wondering if perhaps some other drugs had been
misunderstood. However, my peers educated me about the dangers of heroin,
cocaine and other harder drugs. It's about time the truth came out.

Too many people are getting criminal records and can never work in certain
companies (including government) because they were caught smoking a joint.
It is outrageous to think of all the young people whose lives may be
destroyed over something that should be their choice.

To fight the war on drugs, we need to tell our kids the truth about
marijuana, and also tell our kids about the dangers of other drugs, too. If
our society were more open and understanding, we wouldn't see so many young
kids doing drugs.

Smoking marijuana does not make you a bad person. Instead of trying to
fight this huge war on drugs, we should occupy ourselves by trying to solve
homelessness, poverty, our horrible education system and a health-care
system that is going down the drain. Perhaps we could use the millions of
dollars we'd save if we weren't trying to capture, prosecute and jail these
so-called "offenders."

I think I speak for most people when I say that I'm not offended by someone
who makes a choice to smoke marijuana.

C.C. Roy,

Hull