COMBAT CANNABIS

When I was a child I had never heard of drugs, but now they seem to be
everywhere.

Marijuana seems to be the big one these days. The government is
currently being pushed by certain groups to legalize it. These people
claim that marijuana is as harmful as alcohol and tobacco products,
and want to be able to smoke it without risking arrest. Reality check
time! Alcohol, for the most part, is only a danger to the person
ingesting it, although drinking and driving puts everyone's lives at
risk. Smoking tobacco products not only hurts you but also hurts
others who are exposed to secondhand smoke.

To legalize marijuana or "weed" would be like combining the negatives
of both drugs and making it available to the general public. Can you
honestly say that you would be happy in a country where you have to
worry about getting high, losing memory due to the destruction of
brain cells and getting cancer? I sure hope not. Marijuana has nothing
positive to offer Canadians except for the money that the government
would make from taxes.

What we need to stop this threat to our health are for people to speak
out against marijuana. Let's show the pot-pushers that there is no
place for cannabis in Canada!

Andrew Hines, Grade 12, Windsor Regional High School, Falmouth