The Addictions Foundation of Manitoba is urging the federal government to use a public health approach matched with strict regulation when legalizing marijuana.

"This provides us with a very unique opportunity," said Dr. Sheri Fandrey of the AFM, which released a position statement Tuesday. "This is the first time since Prohibition that a substance which is currently illegal is becoming legal and fortunately the process has enough lead time that we can get ahead of the curve and start to provide some of the resources - educational, outreach, data collection - - prior to the change happening and cannabis being made legal.

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An advocate for Winnipeg's homeless and addicted population says the city is in "denial" about its injection drug problem.

Rick Lees, executive director of Main Street Project, looks at other large urban centres in Canada and says Winnipeg is lagging behind in addressing its hard drugs problem.

"On the committees I sit on, it's always on the agenda for discussion, but that's all it is," Lees said. "We're where (other cities) were a year or two years ago. Ottawa is on the cusp of doing it, Toronto's mayor is out in support of it, Vancouver has been doing it for seven years now. In Manitoba, I think we're a bit in denial either because we're a smaller population or we just don't think it's that big a deal because it's not interfering with our mainstream lives."

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A local marijuana advocate is compiling criticism against Ottawa's task force report on legalization in order to make sure Manitoba's cannabis community "has a voice."

Steven Stairs, a medical marijuana user and grower who helps organize Winnipeg's 420 rallies, said he reached out to Kildonan MLA Nicholas Curry to talk about the highs and lows of the report.

Without making our voices heard early in the process, we won't have a leg to stand on," he said.

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This is a direct reply to "Heed Cigarette Lessons For Pot," a letter written by John Fefchak of Virden.

I totally agree with you on one point. We can't find intelligent life, especially when we have people like you comparing the scourge of cigarettes to something like marijuana.

It is truly ignorant and quite closed-minded to say marijuana is anything like cigarettes. There is no single recorded death in history linked directly with the use of this beneficial substance.

[continues 160 words]

Re: Thoughts on pot (Letters, Jan. 5)

Letter-writer James Teller misinterpreted statistics from Washington state on cannabis and driving.

The cited report states "results of this study do not indicate that drivers with detectable THC in their blood at the time of the crash were necessarily impaired by THC or that they were at fault for the crash; the data available cannot be used to assess whether a given driver was actually impaired, and examination of fault in individual crashes was beyond the scope of this study."

[continues 213 words]

Some facts that bear on legalizing marijuana are important to consider.

Everyone agrees smoking cigarettes is bad for your health and causes many deaths each year even when the smoke is second-hand. We have laws restricting cigarette smoking, and cigarette packages warn us of the dangers. Why add another smoking risk?

Statistics in Washington state show a twofold increase in highway deaths related to marijuana, and they now make up 17 per cent of the total, so why pass legislation in Canada that will increase deaths? To put this another way: if we could reduce highway deaths by five to 10 per cent (by prohibiting marijuana use), wouldn't this be good?

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Re: Prankster changes Hollywood sign to 'Hollyweed."

Some thing that citizens of Canada and all governments should be thinking about, as the planned legislation to legalize marijuana continues. A 'CANADAWEED' sign. Doesn't any one remember the health issues with cigarettes and tobacco through the years and the cancers associated with the use of those products? Aren't we now on the very same path to neglect our health and the social implications? I sometimes wonder why we are so obsessed with trying to find intelligent life on other planets, when we can't even find intelligent life here!

John Fefchak



(Rimshot!)

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