Re "Tories smoking mad at pot plans," (Dec. 11): I got a good laugh from Ontario Health Minister Tony Clement when he said "This is another type of pollution of one's body, quite frankly, and if we want to concern ourselves with health and wellness, this seems to be going the other direction," in response to the parliamentary committee's sensible suggestion that we decriminalize pot. Is this the same MP whose government has increased made-in-Ontario air pollution steadily since taking power, leading to smog alert after smog alert all summer long? Isn't he a member of the same government whose energy policy has resulted in much more coal-based electricity generation, in a province where there are already over 1,000 deaths a year because of the choking haze? (And don't even get me started on the skyrocketing electricity prices we got as a bonus, if we were lucky enough to survive the summer.) [continues 56 words]
Re: "Ailing Krieger Busted," July 20. Disgusting. Indecent. Cowardly. Brainless. Those are the words I feel describe the RCMP's arrest of medical marijuana user Grant Krieger, a sick man legally entitled to possess marijuana to ease his suffering. The officers involved should be fired, and competent people with humanity, decency and morality should replace them. Our taxes are being thrown away on this senseless arrest and the Crown's continuing and cowardly attack on the sick and dying. Dave Haans Toronto (This issue makes emotions run high.) [end]
Am I the only one who thinks that we should allow athletes to dope themselves silly, if only to stop the anti-doping madness that pervades and perverts the Olympics? Has the anti-doping strategy worked? No, not one bit. Just like the war on drugs, users simply become much more careful in taking the substance in order to evade detection. Is it fair? No. The rules seem to be unevenly and unfairly applied. U.S. athletes, apparently, have had their drug test results tucked under the rug, while other athletes have their drug test results (and loss of a medal if they won one) broadcast to billions. Who knows what else has taken place behind the scenes? [continues 192 words]
I'd like to commend Catherine Mitchell for her excellent column, Forget the marijuana scare stories (Aug. 10). Canadians are finally taking a good, hard look at our drug policies, and Ms Mitchell's column provides readers a good starting point for discussion. I can only hope that her column facilitates more open discussion of the harm inherent in treating drugs solely as a criminal, and not a health or family or personal issue. Toronto [end]
Re "Needle exchange does more harm than good," by Steve Madely (Aug. 10): Madely tries valiantly to make the assertion that needle exchange programs have actually caused infection rates to rise in major urban centres, including Ottawa. But, he never discusses what is really causing the rates to rise. In his main argument, he fails to note that in most of the main urban centres in this country, there has been a huge increase in the number of addicts injecting crack cocaine rather than (or, in addition to) heroin. Since crack cocaine is typically injected many more times than heroin would be, this has led to much more needle use, and resulted in more people both sharing dirty needles and using needle exchange programs. [continues 350 words]
I read with interest Harry Bruce's excellent article on "Janey Canuck" (otherwise known as Emily Murphy). Although I agree with the sentiments expressed in the article, I am writing to correct one small mistake. Canada outlawed marijuana in 1923, only a year after Emily Murphy's The Black Candle was published, not seven years after as the article states. No one seems to know why it was outlawed, and the extent of the influence Emily Murphy's book had on resulting drug laws is unclear. What is known, however, is that there was little reason to outlaw marijuana, as at the time most people had never even heard of the drug. In fact, it was nine years before anyone was charged with a marijuana offence. Dave Haans, Toronto [end]
Re Mr. Bush, sex, drugs and media (Aug. 22) by Dalton Camp I don't really know much about George W. Bush, possibly the next president of the United States of America, but I have a sneaking suspicion that if he were to be president, he could only follow up on the war-on-(some)-drugs-mongering of past presidents. Successive presidents, from president Ronald Regan (who never really had to answer questions about the drugs-weapons-money finagle of Iran-Contra), to George Bush (whose invasion of Panama was predicated on capturing a drug trafficker the CIA once fully collaborated with), to Bill Clinton (who personally admitted to the curious act of smoking but not inhaling), the United States has escalated the drug war each term. [continues 126 words]
I don't really know much about George W. Bush, possibly the next president of the United States of America, but I have a sneaking suspicion that if he were to be president, he could only follow up on the war-on-(some)-drugs-mongering of past presidents. Successive presidents, from president Ronald Regan (who never really had to answer questions about the drugs-weapons-money finagle of Iran-Contra), to George Bush (whose invasion of Panama was predicated on capturing a drug trafficker the CIA once fully collaborated with), to Bill Clinton (who personally admitted to the curious act of smoking but not inhaling), the United States has escalated the drug war each term. [continues 125 words]
Something of a miracle happened in Canada this month, in its implications for our national drug policy. The Canadian Association of Police Chiefs' board of directors agreed to start pressing the federal government to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana and hashish. The reason? Canada's courts are backlogged with thousands of minor possession cases, and police across the country are finding themselves without the resources to go after traffickers and other more serious criminals. They didn't always feel this way. When the feds were looking at introducing the present drug law (The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act), the CAPC found itself to be one of the few critics of softening marijuana laws in the county. [continues 597 words]
RE "COPS stir up the great pot debate" (April 22): Kudos to the Association of Canadian Police Chiefs for finally coming to their collective senses regarding the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana. Their new view contrasts with their opinion at the time Canada's drug law (the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act) was being debated. In fact, back then they were one of the few groups opposing the softening of Canada's marijuana laws. Other groups which argued for a rethinking of these laws included the Canadian Bar Association, the Criminal Lawyers Association, the Canadian Police Association, the Canadian Medical Association, along with policy researchers, addiction specialists and criminologists. [continues 121 words]
In her Opinion page piece, Why don't we just make smoking illegal? (Nov. 24), Elvira Cordileone states that we shouldn't be suing tobacco companies for something that rational people choose to do. She then advocates banning tobacco altogether, writing that we should "stop trying to make our courts do our dirty work" by suing tobacco companies. If we bannned smoking, an instant, monstrous black market in tobacco would rise up literally overnight to replace legitimate tobacco sales. Of course, to try to stem the flow, police would have to contribute significant resources to uselessly arrest and put through the courts tens of thousands of people each year, just as they do now with other banned substances. [continues 95 words]
Farah Jacma writes an interesting and perceptive letter, stating that "many more (khat) shops are opening and business is flourishing," despite khat being declared illegal under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. What is happening is something we have seen before in Canada. A relatively harmless substance (khat is a mild stimulant, used socially in much the same way as coffee), is prohibited, immediately creating a black market in its trade. Rather than selling for $7, as Farah Jacma points out, its price jumps to $70, creating massive profits for anyone, including Somali warlords, who want to traffic in it. [continues 189 words]
Re: Star editorial (Allan Rock's dubious response -- Aug. 10). In this editorial, you state that Allan Rock should have told Jim Wakeford, a medical marijuana user, that he could have access to the drug that helps him by submitting a request under Health Canada's Special Access Program. However, the SAP is a dead end in regards to medical marijuana. Last year, such a request was denied because there is no source of the drug that any company is able to supply, because of its illegal status. [continues 130 words]
Re TTC rejects drug testing its drivers (July 16). There are strong reasons for not having widespread drug testing programs. For starters, drug tests don't test for impairment, which is really the issue here. Also, since metabolites of marijuana stay in the body for up to a month, drug tests typically focus attention on relatively harmless marijuana use, while harder drug use, including heavy drinking on the weekend, resulting in an impairing hangover, can easily go undetected. Finally, the drug test supporters make the serious mistake of assuming that drug testing is a cure-all for public safety concerns. Since the proposed drug testing can't possibly tell who will be safe and who will not once the job is offered, it is simply a waste of time and money, and yes, an infringement on personal and democratic rights. Dave Haans Toronto - --- Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst" [end]
The solution is simple: Treat drug abuse as the medical condition it is, and let officers and courts across the country pursue real criminals instead of sick people. Dave Haans (These people got sick, if you want to call it that, because someone sold them drugs illegally.) [end]
For example, where in the story does it say that these were troubled teens, all of whom had problems before they started using marijuana, as it does in other versions of the story? And what makes marijuana "dangerous" in this case? Many people report that coffee is a difficult thing to give up, yet we don't see stories on the addictiveness, and, therefore, dangerousness, of coffee. The Record must be aware that the studies the U.S. National Institute of Drug Abuse is waging a campaign agaist marijuana, making vague and unsubstantiated assertions about studies they fund which are never adequatley reported. I realize newspapers are under pressure to fill pages. However, printing these types of stories without analysis makes the Record a party to U.S. drug war propaganda. The Record might want to reconsider carrying similar stories in the future. Dave Haans Toronto [end]
In Louise Brown's column, Andrea Stevens Lavigne says, "Kids are too smart for parents to lie to them." I couldn't agree more. Why then, do we find the same old, discounted marijuana myths trotted out in the rest of her column? For example, Wayne Walker of the Hospital for Sick Children says that marijuana "takes away any motivation" and is "also the stepping stone to harder chemicals." How can these statements be reconciled with the fact that even Ross Rebagliati, with all of his motivation taken away, could still train hard and win a gold medal at the Olympics? [continues 177 words]
Dave Haans (Wouldn't it be the thin edge of the wedge?) [end]
