Pubdate: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2003 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 Author: Al Rhino Feldman Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1072/a06.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) LAWS ON INTOXICANTS INCONSISTENT Deborah Chase is stunned at the juxtaposition of two pictures of men smoking, one a cigarette, the other a joint (Letters, July 15, "Legalizing pot a societal decision"). She did not mention that on Page C3 of the same edition of The Gazette was a picture of a race-car driver spraying champagne on two women wearing tank tops with the Molson Canadian logo prominently displayed. The decision to legalize marijuana is, indeed, a societal one but not because we are divided on the issue of allowing adults in a free society to consume substances that alter users' judgment; as the third photo shows, that decision has already been made. The question is whether or not we want our laws to have some consistency. Whether an intoxicant is inhaled rather than ingested should not be the determining factor in defining its criminality. Al Rhino Feldman Montreal - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk