Pubdate: Wed, 25 Sep 2002
Source: Medicine Hat News (CN AB)
Copyright: 2002 Alberta Newspaper Group, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.medicinehatnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1833
Author: Rusty Shackleford

MARIJUANA A NATURAL SUBSTANCE

So far, not a single person who has voiced concern over the
decriminalization of pot has brought up one valid point that has
reigned true. They completely miss the point and instead fall for what
has been indoctrinated into them by governments, law officials, and
media.

People say the usage of pot leads to increased criminal activity. This
is a myth, though it can be stretched as far to say that presently pot
is against the law and buying is in indeed a criminal activity.

Think of the two most lethal drugs you can imagine. What did you come
up with? Alcohol and tobacco, didn't you? Looking at my cigarette pack
this minute I can tell you 1,900 people died in 1996 from alcohol and
45,000 died from tobacco. Forty-five thousand is more or less the
population of Medicine Hat. Where's the outcry for the criminalization
of alcohol and cigarettes?

I know what you're saying now: "Well, some people do believe those
drugs should be illegal." You're correct. There's far from an outcry.
It's really more of a murmur. Why? People like those drugs. People
want to be able to come home from eight hours of work and have a beer
and a cigarette. You may even like it yourself. They somehow look past
the fact that what they're doing is dangerous to their health because
the use of these drugs calms them.

We now have our numbers, 1,900 (alcohol) and 45,000 (tobacco). Let's
compare this to the number of people who die annually from pot --
zero! Pot has never killed a single person. Now, when a pusher guns
down some guy who didn't pay him, that doesn't count. If it doesn't
count when a crook steals $500 in cigarettes and shoots the clerk, it
doesn't count for the pusher either.

Pot grows naturally on the planet, so in effect the fact pot is
against the law is making nature against the law. Doesn't that seem, I
don't know, unnatural?

Breathe a sigh of relief, Canada. Pot will not be legalized in Canada.
The Senate will realize the people of this country are not yet evolved
enough to handle the freedoms of others.

Rusty Shackleford

Medicine Hat
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake