Why Advocates Say Marijuana Should Be Legalized

In his Torbay home, Mike Dawe slides open an end-table drawer, pulls out a Mason jar and rolls a joint.

There are no additives like tobacco. The marijuana - weed or pot as it is most commonly called - is grown by Dawe with an ardent dedication to craftsmanship.

As Dawe, a rail-thin man who stands an inch shy of seven feet, takes The Telegram on a tour of the basement of the house he rents, he apologizes, saying the current plants are not his best crop.

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On Thursday morning, news broke that Port aux Basques RCMP had seized a large quantity of marijuana and ecstasy from a house in Port aux Basques.

The story posted to The Gulf News website went slightly viral, at least in local terms, gathering over four thousand hits in a few hours. Few stories get that many hits in a week.

It shows the interest and the concern people have in our community about illicit drugs.

It's no secret that many in our society see marijuana as a relatively harmless recreation drug. Even some of those leaving comments on our web story said marijuana needs to be legalized while criticizing those who sell ecstasy. The federal Liberals passed a motion to legalize pot at their recent convention.

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Meet David Shea and you might notice the skin on his face and hands is taut and pale. It's not for lack of time spent outdoors, but because of an uncommon condition known as scleroderma - a chronic systemic autoimmune disease, mainly of the skin.

Up to 40,000 Canadians have the disease, which can make life very uncomfortable.

That's why the Grand Falls-Windsor native, who now lives in Halifax, promotes the use of medical marijuana to the public as well as to health professionals - not as a way to get high, but as a safe drug that can alleviate the symptoms of various diseases.

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A St. John's man had $1,500 of medical marijuana confiscated when he went to pick up a package at Purolator and was met by the RCMP instead.

Richard Oakley, who tested positive for HIV 25 years ago, moved back to the province from British Columbia three months ago to be near family.

He told The Telegram he received the first package since coming home without a problem from his designated grower in B.C.

But last week he kept trying to claim his second delivery of marijuana and marijuana-laced chocolates and Purolator told him to come back Monday. That's when he was met with the RCMP officer.

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Their kids need help and they're not going to wait for it anymore.

On May 28, The Telegram published a story titled "New drugs hit schools," describing issues around illegal drug use at the junior high and high school level. It was focused on the Northeast Avalon, but prompted response from parents and community group leaders in other parts of the province.

They said youth in their areas are not immune to addictions. The difference outside the Northeast Avalon, they said, is the same level of addictions services are not available to them.

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