Pubdate: Sat, 19 Dec 2015
Source: London Free Press (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 The London Free Press
Contact: http://www.lfpress.com/letters
Website: http://www.lfpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/243
Author: Diane Ferri
Page: E3

POT LESS LETHAL THAN BEER ANY DAY

Apparently there is cause for great celebration because we can now 
purchase beer at our favourite grocery store while stocking up on the 
other necessities of life. And while a large number of people are 
applauding this, there are those who are still denouncing the 
legalization of marijuana and opposing its proposed sale through LCBO 
stores because it is dangerous to make it easily accessible.

To these people I say, attend at guilty plea court on any given day 
at the London courthouse and you will hear tales of violence and pain 
inflicted by persons upon each other as a result of having imbibed 
too much alcohol. The facts are invariably that the parties have been 
drinking heavily, a verbal disagreement ensues and escalates into a 
violent physical confrontation with tragic consequences.

You will not hear that same scenario arising, however, when people 
have been smoking marijuana. They are just too mellow to get scrappy.

So why are there individuals out there who still insist marijuana is 
a nefarious substance and should be strictly controlled while 
advocating for easier access to alcohol which has much more 
deleterious effects? It's an ignorant, head-in-the-sand mentality.

Pardon the pun, but it is high time marijuana became legalized for 
the following reasons: to end the criminality involved in its 
production and sale, thereby enabling police and prosecutors to 
address the much more serious drug issues plaguing our streets and to 
make it easier and safer for those who benefit from its medicinal 
properties, as well as those who enjoy it for recreational purposes, 
to do so without incurring a criminal record.

And while legalization of marijuana isn't the highest priority for 
the Liberal government, at least it's on the to-do list, which is a 
step in the right direction.

Diane Ferri

London
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom