Pubdate: Wed, 15 Nov 2006 Source: Quesnel Cariboo Observer (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Quesnel Cariboo Observer Contact: http://www.quesnelobserver.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1260 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n1520/a04.html Author: Arthur Topham Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test) ATTACKS UNNECESSARY Re: Drug tests weed out abusers, Feedback, the Observer, Nov. 8. I have enjoyed reading the ongoing dialogue my Oct. 15 letter appears to have spawned. Much of the negative commentary on cannabis the various writers contributed I found to be based upon either ignorance of the plant itself or else upon the biased research of either government or pharmaceutical-alcohol corporations - both of which have a vested interest in keeping pot illegal and criminal and maligned by irrational and illogical fear-mongering. Paul Drescher's letter Nov. 8 tends to summarize this position so often taken by those who have no actual experience of the plant and therefore need to rely upon the corporate newspapers and anti-pot organizations and industries for their supposed "facts." None of the writers who have been critical of marijuana use have confessed to using the plant, which speaks volumes as to their personal awareness of the beneficial aspects of the plant's inherent nature. 2007 will mark the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love (1967) as well as the year in which I first began smoking marijuana on a casual basis. It is these past four decades of modest use which have convinced me that all the rhetoric and the hullabaloo over the dangers of using this medicinal plant are fabricated, misleading lies. They're designed to prohibit the average citizen from enjoying a substance not only medically beneficial and industrially far superior to any petrochemical product that has replaced its traditional role but more importantly still, to criminalize and terrorize people who rightfully choose to get high and feel good via a natural, God-given plant that was created for all the aforesaid reasons. One other point that needs to be emphasized in this ongoing debate is what I would call the spiritual aspect of the cannabis plant. It has been considered by all eastern cultures to be a sacred herb for thousands of years due to its ability to raise the consciousness of the user to levels of awareness that transcend the everyday, mundane perception of conditioned reality. That ability in itself ought to justify its legitimate use for personal, therapeutic application notwithstanding all its other positive benefits, but strange as it is in these darkening days of jaded, corrupt, industrial-chemical-corporate madness, terror and war, the one substance God provided for man which helps tremendously to mitigate all this negativity is attacked and twisted into a gigantic lie by the forces of darkness and ignorance. That, I would humbly submit, is the real and tragic abuse that is occurring regarding the marijuana plant. Arthur Topham Cottonwood - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman