Pubdate: Sun, 11 May 2003 Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2003, Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: http://www.fyiottawa.com/ottsun.shtml Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329 Author: Dan Boucher Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n663/a09.html Note: Parenthetical remark by the Sun editor, headline by newshawk LOOK AT THE FACTS In response to Vic Blake's letter in the Sun May 5: He states that he has been in recovery for 24 years. Mr. Blake, let me start by saying congratulations, but as a recovering addict you should know better. I too am a recovering addict and have been drug-free for over two years, but you are starting to sound like so many uninformed people out there. I for one know that you are born an addict and do not become one simply because one's drug of choice was legal (which in my case was prescription medication). I do not believe that if marijuana is made legal that you will have all these addicts walking around. A person who has never used it before is not about to say "Wow, it is legal now, let's get high." The fact is that it will stop leading all those addicts to jail where getting help is a joke. It is time we stop playing on people's fears and look at the facts. You ask any person on the street and they will tell you that just because marijuana is legal they are not about to light up. Let's start by educating people on the downside of drugs; let the government sell it, tax the hell out of it and direct that money into more treatment centres. Dan Boucher Nepean (It's worth a shot) - --- MAP posted-by: Josh