Re: Pot Dangers ( III ), letter, Oct.  4; Marijuana Has No Place In Society, letter, Sept.  30; A Misguided Sense Of Justice, letter, Sept.  28.

Some of the U.S.  hysteria about marijuana seems to be rubbing off on Canadians.  I don’t doubt Dr.  Henry T.  Chuang’s sincerity in opposing its use, but I think the problems he refers to would pale in comparison to those caused by alcohol in his city.

I am a middle-aged male business owner who experimented with pot then left it behind with my youth.  I never thought about it again.  But almost a decade ago, I had an acute back injury that left me, temporarily, unable to sleep, with no appetite and in a lot of pain.  I did not want to use the Oxycodone I had been prescribed.  A friend of a friend brought in some marijuana and suggested I try it.  I was amazed.  The pain subsided and I ate a huge meal.  Then I went to bed and had the first good sleep I’d had in weeks.

I haven’t smoked it since, but that episode proved to me that there is both a need and place for marijuana in our society and it’s beyond time that it should be legalized and regulated.  Demonizing and further criminalizing it is unjust and counterproductive.

Robert Chapman

Oakville, Ont.

Pubdate: Thu, 06 Oct 2011
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2011 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Robert Chapman
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n603/a03.html
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n603/a04.html
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n610/a06.html
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n614/a10.html
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n614/a12.html

Re: Pot Growers Face More Jail Than Rapists, Sept.  23.

I read with disbelief the proposed criminal code changes that appear to suggest that the Canadian government thinks growing marijuana is equal to pedophilia.  I would rather have someone grow 1,000 pot plants than for them to harm a single child.  The U.S.  “war on drugs” has been a complete failure, and has contributed significantly to that country’s current dismal economic situation.  Why is our government dragging us down that dead end road?

Jim Selover

Edmonton

Pubdate: Wed, 28 Sep 2011
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2011 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Jim Selover
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n597/a03.html

‘Christine’ says arthritis is not an excuse to take illegal drugs, and ‘it’s a known fact that cannabis leads to paranoia’ ( LT, September 2 ).

Firstly, it is not an ‘illegal drug’, it is the possession, cultivation and supply that is illegal.

There is a big distinction there: the law is aimed at people, not substances.

Secondly, paranoia is a mental health problem experienced by some people and whilst cannabis may worsen it for some, it eases it for others – there is plenty of information online to confirm that.

An estimated 3 to 5million people in the UK use cannabis, many to ease dreadful pains and suffering that prescribed medication does not touch.  They are not all paranoid, by far.

Furthermore, cannabis as plant material is now available on prescription, through doctors, pharmacists and clinics, in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Canada and many US states.

Pain is no excuse to break the law – but it is a justifiable reason and anybody who suffers or is watching somebody suffer ought to understand that.

People who possess or grow cannabis in their own homes for their own use and do no harm to others ought not to be punished.

That is where the law is at fault.

Alun Buffry

Norwich

Pubdate: Fri, 16 Sep 2011
Source: Lancashire Telegraph (UK)
Copyright: 2011 Newsquest Media Group
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4381
Author: Alun Buffry
Reference: http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/9230722.Pain_no_excuse_to_break_law/

Re: CRIME program to continue for now, Tuesday, Aug.  9 Tribune.

“CRIME-subsidizing program to continue for now” would be a more accurate headline.

The people most pleased about this “eradication” policy are the 90-95 per cent of growers who will never be caught.

This colossal waste of time and money is not only failing to fix things, it is, in fact, outrageously counterproductive.

If the police busted twice as many grow ops this year as last year, they would still only get about 20 per cent of them.  One fifth.  Probably less.  And every time they bust one grow op — indoor, outdoor, small or big — all they do is make the ones they don’t catch that much more valuable.

Not only is the illegality of pot the very thing that makes growing it so lucrative, the police are actually subsidizing the entire industry by busting only a minority of the growers.

The whole thing is a scam and the police know it, too.

They continue this game because regular crime keeps going down every year and they need to justify their continued existence.

Funny how they complain about a “lack of resources” when women and kids go missing, but they always have a dozen officers to pose for the cameras with pot plants in their hands.

They also like to tell the public that this is somehow interfering with organized crime or preventing pot from reaching people’s kids, but informed people like me know that the exact opposite is true.

Every year the cops bust more and more people and, every year, organized criminals grow stronger and pot becomes more widely available.

Is this the Canada you want to live in? A country where government, cops, and the media lie to the public and help gangsters and deprive people of valuable medicine and billions in tax revenue in the process?

Because that is the Canada you live in right now.

Russell Barth

Educators For Sensible Drug Policy

federally licensed medical marijuana user,

Nepean, Ont.

Pubdate: Tue, 16 Aug 2011
Source: Williams Lake Tribune, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2011 Williams Lake Tribune
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.wltribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1226
Author: Russell Barth, Educators For Sensible Drug Policy, federally licensed medical marijuana user.
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n517/a06.html?1190

Dear Editor,

I can’t be the only non-user who is fed up with the persecution of medical marijuana outlets by police [Clients fume over marijuana loss, Aug.  30, Langley Advance].

The clients of these medical distribution centres come with a prescription referred by a doctor.  Therefore, the police are subordinating a legal medical health concern to an arcane statute that continues to rob the B.C.  coffers of literally billions of dollars in untaxed revenue.

The ridiculous, outmoded fear behind it all was recently underscored in an advertisement titled: “Get Paid to Grow Marijuana” about a UBC seminar, with topics such as complying with laws and regulations for medical use.

Police and politicians should not get away with using the defence that growers are liable to break-ins, etc., because that argument could be made to shut down pharmacies or even banks, who also occasionally are robbed for their wares.

In the land of uncommon sense, many peaceable, noncriminal, ordinary citizens who enjoy an occasional smoke with friends or know of it and do not disapprove are motionless, while the best possible usage of this natural herb is disallowed for those who need it most.

This is unacceptable.

In the future, any political party or politician who gets my vote will have to speak to this untenable situation.

Eli Bryan Nelson

Langley

Pubdate: Thu, 01 Sep 2011
Source: Langley Advance (CN BC)
Copyright: 2011 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc.
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.langleyadvance.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1248
Author: Eli Bryan Nelson, Langley Advance

Re: “No fan of Insite,” Letter, Sept.  8.

MP Joy Smith states there are “no peer-reviewed, scientifically sound studies that support claims that safe injection sites save lives and have significant success in helping their clients to become drug free.”

This is either misinformed or intentionally misleading.

Since 2003, Insite, Vancouver’s supervised injection site, has been subject to more than 30 peer-reviewed studies which found a reduction in public injecting, lower levels of HIV risk behaviours ( e.g., syringe sharing ), an increase in uptake of addiction treatment among the facility’s clients, and a reduction in overdose deaths.

These findings have been published in prestigious, peer-reviewed journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, the British Medical Journal, the Canadian Medical Association Journal and The Lancet.

It is indisputable that Insite saves lives.  The fact that the majority of injections occur away from the facility merely affirms the need for an expansion of its services.

While greater investment in prevention and treatment is crucial, abandoning proven harm reduction measures will lead to a mounting HIV and hepatitis C epidemic and tragic deaths among our most vulnerable populations.  This would certainly not be “doing better” for people with addictions.

Sandra Ka Hon Chu,

Toronto

Pubdate: Fri, 09 Sep 2011
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2011 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/letters.html
Website: http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Sandra Ka Hon Chu
Note: Sandra Ka Hon Chu is senior policy analyst for the Canadian HIV/AIDS
Legal Network.

British Columbia
——-
It seems only a matter of time before more innocent bystanders are killed in a gangland shooting.

Alcohol prohibition in the U.S.  years ago caused gangland wars and shootings to a huge degree.  The cost in human lives and money spent on police and court time was huge.  In the end, prohibition was ended by the government.

Now we have a similar problem, similar gang shootings and similar costs to the taxpayers.  Unfortunately, the war against drugs is being lost worldwide.  Their import, by air, tunnels and even submarines is increasing, despite all the efforts of the authorities.

Perhaps the logical solution is to declare all drugs legal, and bring the importation and selling under government control.  This would remove the profit made by gangs, who would then lose interest in their control.

Undoubtedly, many persons will use these harmful substances.  They must be made aware that the effects of such stupid acts will be their responsibility.  The government will not be responsible or pay for treatments.

It’s time that people everywhere learn that they, and they alone, are responsible for their actions.

Geoffrey Vale

Mill Bay

Pubdate: Sun, 21 Aug 2011
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2011 Times Colonist
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/letters.html
Website: http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Geoffrey Vale

We unequivocally support removing marijuana growing operations from the Mendocino National Forest and all other public lands.  We consider this a no-brainer.  However, it is our obligation as elected officials to do more than simply line up behind what’s popular.  We also consider it our duty to define solutions to long-standing problems.

The point we made at the Board of Supervisors meeting of August 2 was that illegal growing on public lands will not end until the federal laws are changed.  We did not criticize Sheriff Allman’s efforts, not did we criticize the other jurisdictions – county, state, and federal – – that participated in Full Court Press.

This is a time when government must spend its dollars wisely.  It is our shared opinion that the war on drugs is not a wise expenditure.  The horrors of the Prohibition era ended shortly after President Roosevelt lifted the ban on alcohol.  Interestingly, that’s also when our local alcohol industry began its steady ascent.  We believe that ending marijuana prohibition would have a similar beneficial effect.

John Pinches, Supervisor, District Three, Laytonville

Dan Hamburg, Supervisor, District Five, Ukiah

MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom

Pubdate: Wed, 17 Aug 2011
Source: Anderson Valley Advertiser (CA)
Contact: [email protected]
Copyright: 2011 Anderson Valley Advertiser
Website: http://www.theava.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2667
Authors: John Pinches and Dan Hamburg

Re: “Drugs: Illegal for a reason,” Daily News editorial, July 21.

What absolute claptrap! Drugs are indeed prohibited “for a reason” but to argue that drugs are banned because of the harm they do makes no sense whatsoever.

Nearly all the harm done to users and non-users alike by illegal drugs is because the drugs are prohibited. Thousands were poisoned by adulterated booze during prohibition and thousands more are dying today because of adulterated drugs, an aspect of government policy my wife and I became well-acquainted with when our 19-year-old son, Peter, died shortly after ingesting some street heroin in 1993. Drug prohibition encourages crime, too, as was shown when Al Capone rose to power after alcohol was banned.

Let us never forget also that drug prohibition is racist in origin. It began almost a century ago when the drugs used by certain non-white minorities ( blacks, Chinese, Mexicans ) were banned ostensibly to protect virtuous, white, Christian women from being seduced by these minorities.

Drug laws are an ideal vehicle for social control because they can be applied in an arbitrary manner. Middle class white swingers can indulge their pleasures with impunity. Drug laws apply only to certain social groups: the poor, the coloured, the young, the unemployed, those on the street. Today, the police are happy to make use of this racist legislation to control and harass those whose lifestyle, haircut or skin colour offends them.

The best way to reduce the harm and heartbreak of illegal drugs is to end drug prohibition. Let’s legalize all drugs, remove the propaganda and the police from the equation and have the drugs manufactured by knowledgeable, competent organizations that will supply cheap, quality tested drugs of known purity and potency and that, in order to avoid legal liability, will impart factual drug information to us and to our children.

ALAN RANDELL

Victoria

Powered by MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.

Pubdate: Tue, 09 Aug 2011
Source: Kamloops Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2011 Kamloops Daily News
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/679
Author: Alan Randell
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n484/a03.html?1205