GOOD ADDITION TO MIX

Dear Editor:

Letter writer Victor Cyr asked a question about cannabis legalization which
must be on a lot of Canadians' minds ("Don't facilitate," The Sunday
Herald, Sept 15). Wrote Cyr, "Look at the myriad problems that legalized
drugs such as alcohol and tobacco bring. Why would we want to add another
one to the mix?"

The question presumes that cannabis is not already part of the mix or that
if we clamp down hard enough, it no longer will be. There is no evidence to
support either of these theories.

Cannabis is more often than not a substitute for alcohol and other drugs.
When cannabis use goes up, alcohol use goes down. Economists Frank
Chaloupka and Adit Laixuthai, at the University of Illinois at Chicago,
estimate that cannabis decriminalization would reduce youth traffic
fatalities by 5.5 per cent, youth drinking rates by eight per cent and
binge-drinking rates by five per cent. Other evidence suggests we would see
similar declines in emergency-room drug and alcohol cases.

Adding cannabis to the mix would be like putting yogurt on the dessert
menu. Currently, customers either order cake off the menu or pay the crook
in the alley for their yogurt.

Matthew M. Elrod, Victoria, B.C.