THE DRUG ISSUE: VIEWS DIFFER ON DRUG LAW IDEAS

The Langley Advance News continues to be deluged by letters from all sides
of the drug issue.

PROMOTE EDUCATION

Dear Editor:

Isn't Canada a great place to live? Only in a country as free and diverse
as ours could people have such opposing views as those of Lila Stanford
(Drug debate continues on, Advance News, Jan 8, 2002) and myself. Let me
detail just a few.

Rather than removing funding from public education, we should be supporting
our schools and universities wholly. Education should not be a privilege
for those who can afford it, but a right that everyone should be able to
access.

We all pay taxes into this system and we all benefit from a literate,
educated society.

Far from feeling burdened by our taxes, I feel privileged to pay my fair
share to support the social systems we have in place. I take pride in a
government that supports its citizens.

Neil MacNaughton, Oakville, Ontario

ZERO TOLERANCE

Dear Editor:

Currently the conventional wisdom among marijuana users and advocates is
that legalization should allow a number of things. They propose medicinal
marijuana, needle exchange programs, methadone handouts, "soft" law
enforcement, and other permissive drug strategies is the way to win the war
on drugs.

I propose we do just the opposite. We slap more legislation onto marijuana
with harsher penalties and enforce the law. No I'm not joking. Perhaps it
would create much needed revenue for the government by direct taxation.

It worked for smoking didn't it? Yes and no. Yes we make money by taxing
cigarettes, but we lose huge amounts of money in caring for those people
with lung cancer and such. Or what about people with lung cancer in a bed
in a hospital, and a person needing a hospital bed dies waiting for one as
an indirect result of smoking? It taxes our health system quite heavily,
and creates a bigger financial burden for everyone.

Marijuana is worse health-wise than cigarettes. Marijuana is toxic, which
can cause cancer, lung damage and pregnancy complications.

If we legalize marijuana, we make it a valid choice in our communities.

This choice is not safe for people. If people want to make unsafe choices
legally, I suggest they look for another country to legally smoke marijuana.

Zero tolerance is the way we need to address this situation. The government
should create stricter laws so the police can enforce it and deal with this
problem more effectively.

Legalization advocates need to look at the facts instead of tossing around
justification for their actions. Sorry kids, mere propaganda won't work
this time.

Jonathan Maryniuk, Langley, B.C.