Pubdate: Thu, 03 May 2012
Source: Nanaimo News Bulletin (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012, BC Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/948
Author: John F. Anderson
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n245/a08.html

EDUCATE YOUTH ON MARIJUANA USE

To the Editor,

Re: Pot legalization gets support from municipal reps, April 26.

I agree with Mayor John Ruttan's recent comment that young people 
should not smoke, whether it's cannabis or tobacco.

However, if they do choose between the two, I hope it's a decision 
which does not include them among the 40,000 Canadian deaths which 
occur annually.

According to Health Canada, fewer and fewer young people have started 
smoking over the past decade.

This change in national behaviour was accomplished through education 
and the regulation of tobacco products, and not by threatening 
smokers with arrest, criminal records, or imprisonment.

The same healthy outcomes associated with diminishing tobacco use can 
be most likely accomplished with the legal and regulated production, 
distribution and sale of cannabis products against a background of 
education based on the science of psychoactive substances.

The black market which we have created through anti-drug laws is the 
source of far too much urban property crime and violence.

Mayors should heed the majority of B.C. residents who are skeptical 
about the "war on drugs" and want marijuana controlled in the same 
way as tobacco and alcohol.

John F. Anderson

vice-president

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (Canada)
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