THE REALITIES OF CANNABIS

To the Editor:

Re: Police bust indoor pot setup (Sunday, 28, 2002)

Good old cannabis has been around for 5,000 years. Sailing men in majestic
wooden ships with their rope and sails fashioned from hemp discovered this
continent of ours. And many different cultures have used it medicinally for
centuries, including our own, until it was removed from our pharmacopoeia
in the early '40s. The prohibition of cannabis has gone through much
metamorphosis. Reefer Madness, as it was called in the '30s, promised
insanity, violence and sexual deprivation. Over the decades, the different
campaigns and fear mongering have come and gone. As people generally
refused to accept the lies about cannabis, governments have had to come up
with different and more complex strategies in an effort to drum up support
for a failing, escalating, war on drugs -- the latest of which is terrorism
and that the buying and selling of cannabis is supporting it; therefore if
you use, you're a terrorist too! That coupled with exaggerated over
reactions of the dangers of a grow house in your neighborhood seem to make
up most of the prohibitionist bark today. So reading a police report on
"super hydroponic pot" that's as powerful (therefore insinuating as
dangerous) as cocaine is really a step backwards into prohibitionist
propaganda techniques. Firstly, it has already been disproved. There has
never been a recorded death due to cannabis use or abuse. Cocaine, on the
other hand does kill. Secondly, you underestimate everyone else's
intelligence. The 4 million Canadians who use cannabis know better and
polls show a large majority of Canadians are unhappy with current laws and
drug policies. The police have succeeded in one thing here: they have lost
more credibility and respect in people's minds, especially our youth. A
teenager's trust can be difficult to acquire and hold. It only takes one
good lie to dissolve it.

Steven Bacon / Oshawa