Pubdate: Tue, 14 Feb 2012
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Times Colonist
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/letters.html
Website: http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n121/a02.html
Author: Erin Cunningham

MARIJUANA USERS CAN BE PRODUCTIVE

Re: "Don't be fooled by marijuana claims," Feb. 11.

I take great offence to the statement that marijuana use essentially 
turns people into useless and unmotivated human beings.

I have been a marijuana user for many years, and I graduated from 
high school with a Double Dogwood (a diploma for English and French), 
and even went on to university, from which I graduated with distinction.

I am now a "thinking, productive, contributing member" of society 
with a well respected position in my field, and I am not alone. I 
know many marijuana users who have excellent jobs - from business 
managers to captains and computer techs - and who are active and 
functioning in their community. These are not "low achievers."

I would venture a guess that the writer interacts with many 
successful and capable people on a regular basis who, unknown to him, 
are occasional or even regular marijuana users. I will agree that the 
use of marijuana can become a problem for some people, particularly 
youth, but I find that those are people who may have had underlying 
issues to begin with.

If we were to decriminalize and regulate the use of marijuana, we 
could, as we have done with alcohol and tobacco, limit the use to 
those over a certain age.

I impatiently wait for the day that people open their eyes and their 
minds to see that the current system (as with the failed abolition of 
alcohol) is absolutely not working.

Erin Cunningham

Victoria
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom