AS I TAKE...

Re: BC Culture: Please smoke pot before you read this article! (July 8)

There is an expression used in diplomacy for the recalling of rights that
have lapsed for a long time; it is pro memoria!

I would like to commend Adrian Nieoczym for outstanding commentary.
Adrian's chronicle depicting pot smokers gathering (at the art gallery) on
Canada Day for a patriotic smoke-in illustrates the essence of the
rationale for why cannabis should be sanctioned by the state - "we demand
our lifestyle be legitimised as a legal consumer choice."

I would also like to commend the Peak for publishing it amid a sea of
prohibitory contravention. It is one thing to criminalise an action for a
valid reason; it is quite another to do so for no valid reason.

There is no valid reason to prohibit cannabis or to criminalise cannabis
dealers, growers and users; there are sufficient valid reasons - the
foremost being public safety and age of majority concerns - for
legitimising the use, production and retailing of cannabis.

Wayne Phillips