ADDICT SAYS COMMON SENSE SHOULD PREVAIL

THE EDITOR:

I am a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. My husband is also a
recovering from an addiction to marijuana.

With regard to the many debates to legalize or decriminalize marijuana, or
that pot isn't so bad and isn't addictive, I am absolutely appalled.
Politicians or drug users who choose to speak out about it have no idea
what long use of marijuana does to families.

For many years I witnessed first hand my husband's addiction to pot. We
also associated with other drug addicts whose drug of choice was marijuana.
As many addicts do, my husband hid behind the drug, using it to cover his
pain. It allowed him to remain emotionally sick for many years. After 30
years of use he is now in recovery and beginning to deal with his past.

It has been generational in my family. My son, 17, now uses pot. He also
believes the lies behind marijuana use. He, like my husband and many other
drug addicts, believes it is a soft drug and that it's completely safe.

Marijuana is not safe. It ruins lives. People need to wake up and seek out
the facts. Try speaking to the staff at any detox center, where marijuana
users have to detox their bodies.

It has the same damaging effects as heroin or cocaine. Just because some
argue and class it with other legal addictive drugs like alcohol and
nicotine doesn't make it right. I have used all of the drugs I've mentioned
in this letter and I used them all for the same reasons, to hide or numb
past pain.

When will reality prevail? Politics or the drug world should not determine
the use of marijuana.

Karen Kim McGregor

Abbotsford