Pubdate: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 Source: Alliston Herald (CN ON) Copyright: 2009 Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing Contact: http://www.allistonherald.com/letter_to_editor Website: http://www.allistonherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2224 Author: Russell Barth MURPHY WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING POT ILLEGAL Re: Cookstown was birthplace of one of Canada's "Famous Five" (Oct. 6 Alliston Herald): The racist, puritan crackpot Emily Murphy is responsible for Canada's original 1923 prohibition on marijuana, and the mess that has followed. Her diatribe in The Black Candle aimed the prohibition at dark-skinned people, who she wanted to see removed or eradicated from the continent. It was what prompted parliament to add marijuana to the Opium Tax Act. Now, despite the LeDain Commission's report of the early 1970s and the 2002 Senate Committee Report on Drugs, one government after another has treated marijuana like a serious "danger to society," when in fact, it is only a danger to the pharmaceutical industry. If we wanted to put this woman's face on paper, it shouldn't be our money, it should be on our toilet paper. Russell Barth, Federally Licensed Medical Marijuana User Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis (PAIDC) Nepean, Ont. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D