TELL OTTAWA TO GIVE COLLECTIVE HEAD A SHAKE

Re: Senator Nolan's letter, "Get the right message on pot."

For an appointed not elected bureaucrat, Sen. Nolan's letter certainly was
an enlightened, and honest look at the controversial issues surrounding the
drug war in general and the senate special committee report on illegal
drugs as it regards cannabis.

The senator hit the nail on the head on several points in his letter.

The main one being the fact that many people didn't listen to or
misunderstood what was written. This happened almost immediately back in
September. Those who want to perpetuate the drug war jumped on the report
like it was written by the devil himself One of the first things said was a
slight on the committee member's ethics and abilities. "They're appointed
not elected, therefore their opinions carry no weight."

The prohibitionists dismissed the committee's report so quickly after its
release there's no way they could have read it thoroughly. A good example
was the issue about allowing children as young as 16 legal access to marijuana.

The prohibitionists want us to believe the report endorses childhood drug
use. It doesn't. The report didn't recommend this but its detractors sure
made it sound that way. Didn't they? Prohibition adherents will have a hard
time accepting the senate committee's findings because they fly in the face
of everything they've come to know about cannabis. (Or everything they've
been told about cannabis, remember Reefer Madness?) Some of the other
issues cleared up by the Senator's letter include: 1. The goal of the drug
war, a completely drug free society, is unattainable and unrealistic.

2. We shouldn't prosecute, persecute, or try to cage people for ingesting a
plant.

3. Harm-Reduction: (education, treatment, and prevention), not using the
law to bulldoze the problem away is the common sense approach to the issue
of drug abuse.

4. The committee heard from justice and police officials and considered
their submissions. The senators dismissed much of what the authorities
described as the evils of marijuana use. For instance the committee found
that marijuana wasn't the gateway drug it's reported to be . In fact the
gateway was exposure to criminal dealers who have to push other wares like
heroin, cocaine and pills .

The most important conclusions to come out of the report refer to our civil
liberties and rights. The committee recommended that the federal government
respect Canadians, abilities to make decisions for ourselves, to respect
the fact that we can make wise choices regarding cannabis.

The government should presume that we deserve to be treated with dignity
and respect, but they haven't done so as long as this drug war has been
going on, some 70 years now.

Please call Ottawa and tell them to give their head a shake.