Pubdate: Sat, 21 Mar 2009
Source: Times-Herald, The (Vallejo, CA)
Copyright: 2009 The Times-Herald
Contact:  http://www.timesheraldonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/993
Author: Basil Clinton
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n277/a08.html

TRY CRITICAL THINKING

Lyndon Lafferty outlined the horrors of marijuana,  calling its use 
the "path to total and absolute  destruction." (Your Views, March 6.) 
This is far from  reasonable. The path to total and absolute 
destruction  is to believe a premise without further study and 
without looking at all sides of the issue.

The medical benefits of marijuana are widely known.  Appetite 
stimulation and pain reduction for those  undergoing radiation 
therapy and relieving pressure in  the lens of the eye for those with 
glaucoma are the  most well known.

Lafferty's letter is all fire and brimstone. These  types of scare 
tactics no longer work for the modern  student, as we have been 
learning the value of a  supported argument since we were young in 
school. You  can thank your peace and freedom hippie friends for  that!

An example of an argument not fully supported is that  of: "There are 
more toxic chemicals and poisons in  marijuana than are in nicotine." 
As I walk down the  street and smell a person smoking a cigarette, I 
am  reminded that I may have just inhaled some of the  carbon 
monoxide given off as a tobacco leaf burns.  Also, I am reminded that 
in eight seconds, someone will  die from a tobacco related illness 
(www.costkids.org/tobacco/tobacco/factsheet.htm). In  about eight 
more seconds, another fallen tobacco user  will join the first. 
Meanwhile marijuana users across  the world will continue to light 
up, oddly unaffected  by its toxic chemicals. In fact, there are no 
reported deaths that have occurred solely from marijuana. Imagine that.

Lafferty outlines the types of marijuana users in one  of his 
paragraphs. Insane hippies are the first, drug  addicts are the 
second, prisoners and suicidal teens  are the last. However, it is 
important to wonder what  circumstances brought these people to their 
current  state of despair. Most people who turn to drugs do so  out 
of desperation. They turn to them to escape the  situations in their 
lives pushing them to the brink.  Drugs are a very personal choice 
for someone seeking  relief, although it may not be the best.

Basil Clinton

Vallejo
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