WHAT LIMIT WORKS?

Re: "Senators push to legalize pot: Health groups, police jeer panel's
report," Sept. 5.

Canadians are being asked to judge the Senate committee's recommendations
to legalize marijuana even though there are no known roadside tests that
law enforcement officers can use to determine whether a driver is
handicapped by this substance, as is the case with alcohol. Until those
tools are provided, this proposal is premature.

The media must take a practical look at the effect of allowing those
sixteen and older unlimited access to a mood modifier that may create as
much carnage on the highways as would unregulated use of alcohol.

In 1999, Gregg Thomson's son, along with four other teens, died in a crash
on Highway 7 near Perth, and marijuana was deemed a causal factor.

"Years ago, they didn't have the .08 level to work with either, but they
worked at it and it became accepted," Thomson said. "There has got to be a
way, or someone should come up with a way, of testing marijuana levels that
can be proven in court."

Guilty until proven innocent must be the norm applied to full acceptance of
a new intoxicant into our society. As yet, this aspect of its effect has
not been considered.

Jack Davies, Tillsonburg, Ont.