Pubdate: Tue, 17 Sep 2002 Source: Abbotsford Times (CN BC) Copyright: 2002 The Abbotsford Times Contact: http://www.abbotsfordtimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1009 Author: Rodney N. Cockroft POT NOT SO BAD THE EDITOR: Those folks back in the 1920s were right you know. Alcohol is a much greater evil than marijuana ever could be. Consider all the news stories that have been printed about drunk drivers, drunk hooligans, drunk husbands beating on their wives etc., etc., ad nauseum. I know people who are sweet, kind and thoughtful until they get a few drinks under their belts. They then turn into vicious animals. Tobacco is also a much worse blight for society than reefer could possibly be. House, car and forest fires are part of the legacy of smoking cigarettes. How many people have died in their beds because they just absolutely had to have one more butt? (I have seen no record of a house or car fire caused by a doobie. Joints and roaches don't smoulder which is why the user must keep relighting them). Some fires may have been caused by growing operations, but if weed was legal, then there would be no growing operations to burn. To say that marijuana is a gateway to hard drugs is ridiculous. One could extend that argument, albeit a short trip from the sublime to the ridiculous, that - since most people use toothpaste, toothpaste must be a gateway drug too. The biggest lie of them all is that pot is addictive. Pot is a recreational, mild drug that could result in a psychological dependancy for some, but not for everyone. There is nothing in marijuana that makes it addictive as tobacco, alcohol, coffee, heroin, cocaine and a whole gamut of pain killers. Rodney N. Cockroft Abbotsford - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens