JUST SAY NO

The Editor;

Cheers to C. Grindley-Ferris, who has plainly stated what is wrong with the
idea of legalization. The headline says it all. "Legalizing drugs is not
the answer for youth" (Letters, The Tri-City News, Sept. 18).

Every 40-year-old parent knows that to legalize drugs, specifically pot, is
an absurd response to an ongoing problem. Who is going to benefit from
legalization? Certainly not my school-aged children.

Legalized pot means dope can be as commonplace as a pack of smokes. Once
you legalize an addictive activity for adults to do at will, it only
follows that youths will be quick to discredit the restriction imposed on
them. Let's not forget that pot is a potent, powerful, mind-altering drug
that is addictive.

Do we not all know someone from high school who never stopped smoking up
every day.

There was a time that the workforce would, or could, absorb drug-smoking
people. No more. The workforce is, and will continue to be, more
competitive for our children than for ourselves. They need all the
advantages, not poorly thought out obstacles.

Our youth deserve more from our legislators than some pothead's vision of
liberty. This legalization issue is nearing and I hope we are all vocal to
condemn what is an absurd idea.

Ross Durant

Port Coquitlam