Pubdate: Fri, 17 Feb 2012
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Jon Ferry

STOP ENABLING DRUG USE, STOP USING DRUGS

The fact that four former B.C. chief law officers have added their 
voices to the call for marijuana decriminalization doesn't cut any ice with me.

It's easy to come out in favour of something now so politically 
correct that to argue against it in any way immediately gets one 
branded as a redneck or a Republican, which is the kiss of death in 
these leftlurching parts.

The question that really has to be asked is why Ujjal Dosanjh, Geoff 
Plant, colin gabelmann and graeme Bowbrick didn't speak out in favour 
of a legal market for marijuana while they served as 
attorneys-general from 1991 to 2005.

In fact, I'm getting a little tired of the habit of former Vancouver 
mayors and other headline-addicted exofficials only saying what they 
really mean when they're out of office - when it's politically safe to do so.

Myself, I favour pot legalization. And I don't think the cops should 
be hounding pot smokers; they've got better things to do with their time.

However, I don't view the drug as some kind of divine weed or think 
it's anywhere near as harmless as the pro-pot crusaders would have 
you believe. And I certainly don't think one should be allowed to 
drive while stoned.

Evidence appears to be mounting that regular marijuana use increases 
the chances that a teenager will develop psychosis or schizophrenia. 
And a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center study suggests its use 
by moms during pregnancy can affect children's later intellectual development.

All this helps explain why I am happy that Beatle Paul Mccartney - 
first turned on to pot by Bob Dylan in the mid-'60s - now says he's 
given up marijuana so he can be a better parent to Beatrice, his 
eight-year-old daughter.

"I did a lot, and it was enough. I smoked my share," he told Rolling 
Stone magazine. "When you're bringing up a youngster, your sense of 
responsibility does kick in. Enough's enough - you just don't seem to 
think it's necessary."

Yes, enough is enough. And I think it high time we realized that, 
whether we're talking about marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, heroin or 
highly addictive prescription drugs such as Oxycontin - or an unholy 
mix of them - that we in the Lower Mainland have a huge drug problem.

It's one that legalization alone will not solve. And it's one that, 
to a great degree, has been fuelled by the North-american-wide 
obsession with drug-using celebrities such as Whitney Houston and 
Michael Jackson.

For years, it's been socially and politically cool to enable drug use 
- - and have taxpayers pump thousands of dollars into groups such as 
the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users that push drug dependency as 
a viable lifestyle.

Those hard-earned dollars, in my view, would be far better spent 
promoting the anti-drug message of author/addict William S. 
Burroughs: "Anything that can be done chemically can be done by other means."

Drugs and drug legalization are the easy way out. The hard part is 
finding ways to live without using drugs as a crutch, and to finally 
realize your full human potential.

That's the message those four ex attorneys-general should be delivering. 
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom