Pubdate: Thu, 09 Jan 2003 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2003 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Author: C.C. Roy MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION IS LONG OVERDUE I am very happy that the Canadian government is finally considering the decriminalization of marijuana, although it is long overdue. The dangers of cigarettes and alcohol far outweigh the dangers of smoking marijuana. There needs to be proper research done into this substance to determine exactly its benefits. For years the government has tried to tell us how bad drugs were. It has classified marijuana in the same category as heroin and cocaine. As a teenager, I was smart enough to realize that marijuana wasn't really that harmful (my brain didn't fry like an egg, that is). I concluded that I was being misled and started wondering if perhaps some other drugs had been misunderstood. However, my peers educated me about the dangers of heroin, cocaine and other harder drugs. It's about time the truth came out. Too many people are getting criminal records and can never work in certain companies (including government) because they were caught smoking a joint. It is outrageous to think of all the young people whose lives may be destroyed over something that should be their choice. To fight the war on drugs, we need to tell our kids the truth about marijuana, and also tell our kids about the dangers of other drugs, too. If our society were more open and understanding, we wouldn't see so many young kids doing drugs. Smoking marijuana does not make you a bad person. Instead of trying to fight this huge war on drugs, we should occupy ourselves by trying to solve homelessness, poverty, our horrible education system and a health-care system that is going down the drain. Perhaps we could use the millions of dollars we'd save if we weren't trying to capture, prosecute and jail these so-called "offenders." I think I speak for most people when I say that I'm not offended by someone who makes a choice to smoke marijuana. C.C. Roy, Hull - --- MAP posted-by: Tom