Pubdate: Tue, 25 Oct 2016 Source: Tribune, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2016, Osprey Media Group Inc. Contact: http://www.wellandtribune.ca/letters Website: http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2807 Author: Lou Cesar Page: A4 CIGARETTES, BOOZE ARE LEGAL - SO WHY NOT MARIJUANA? Long ago, a higher power put marijuana plants on Earth for a purpose. Free of charge. Most governments and big industry want to thwart this giveaway. Some say marijuana use leads to stronger drugs - not necessarily so. Excessive drinking creates alcoholics. Drunk drivers injure, maim and kill people. Smoking leads to cancer, heart disease, respiratory ailments and often death. Pharmaceutical companies are drug pushers, also. Some are hooked on legal drugs - with side effects and OD, which can clause death: thousands of people die yearly from smoking, drinking alcohol and legal drugs. This is also multibillion-dollar burden on the health system. How many people die from marijuana use? Next to zero? Marijuana has benefits if used properly, something pharmaceutical companies don't like to admit because it's cheap and cuts into their profits. We can smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol and take legal drugs, even if it kills us. That's OK. Heaven forbid if we should grow marijuana for personal use, because it's illegal. Buying marijuana on the street is illegal; the seller and buyer are in trouble. When the government sells marijuana, it's legal. Therefore, it's all about control and money; hence, tax dollars. Lou Cesar St. Catharines - --- MAP posted-by: Matt