Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jan 2018
Source: Nanaimo News Bulletin (CN BC)
Copyright: 2018, BC Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/948
Author: Robert Anderson

POT LEGALIZATION WILL EXACERBATE DRUGGED-OUT CULTURE

Re: Pot isn't a gateway, Letters, Jan. 11.

I survived the drug culture beginning in the '60s and '70s and count
myself extremely fortunate to have escaped with most of my faculties.
And, no, I'm not a recovering addict - anything but. I've also heard
all the 'potaganda' puffed out by the pro-pot population for the last
30 years or so.

Let's talk 'gateway' drug for a minute. During the years I indulged,
almost everyone I knew who went to pot, so to speak, invariably
indulged in other drugs of the day; namely mescaline, LSD, MDA and the
like. It all starts with pot. The quest for an ever-better high is
irresistible.

On a more philosophical note, legalization of pot will never get rid
of illegal pot. In fact, I believe the underground producers, if
they're smart, (and I think they are) have the capability to keep
lowering their price to the point legal sellers can't stay in
business. It then makes me wonder how to keep rock-bottom priced pot
out of the hands of children. We'll see.

I don't envy law enforcement on this issue either. Like cigarettes and
coffee, pot and booze go hand in hand. So when talking pot they'll
always have to consider more than one drug. And on the drugged driving
issue, I'd like to report that several times lately on the Nanaimo
Parkway we've been subject to gouts of marijuana smoke sucked into our
car by the AC. Happy motoring.

In closing, in the past, the response to irrational statements or
arguments by an inebriated person, was, 'Ignore it, its just the
liquor talking.' I can't help thinking all this pro-pot chatter is
'just the dope talking;' forming the underlying murmur of a
drug-addled nation.

Robert Anderson, Nanaimo
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MAP posted-by: Matt