(This letter appeared in the Letter section of a newspaper):
National Post · Dec. 21, 2011
The former mayors of Vancouver advocating for decriminalizing the gateway drug cannabis is ludicrous. It was largely because of their permissiveness and leniency that Vancouver's Downtown Eastside turned into the nightmare that it is today. Continuing down this path would be asinine.
Seattle, a city comparable in weather and socio-economic climate, does not have the same problem with open drug use simply because it is not tolerated. New York cleaned up its decaying core in the 1980s by cracking down on drug use, not by some hare-brained scheme of decriminalization.
The constant reference to "the war on drugs" is also getting tiresome. The struggle to keep drugs off the streets is more like a constant battle, similar to those society wages with any other illegal, undesirable activity.
Jeffrey Hay, Ladner, B.C.
http://www.nationalpost.com/Keep+drugs+going/5890195/story.html
15.12.11
Dutch gov't cracks down on pot
Dutch pot sales to foreigners go up in smoke
AMSTERDAM | Thu Dec 15, 2011 2:31pm EST
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The reputation of the Netherlands as the go-to country for a legal joint will begin to vanish like a puff of smoke next year as sales to foreigners of cannabis and hashish in coffee shops are banned.
The Dutch government has been clamping down on the sale of soft drugs since 2007 because of gang-related crime and concern about the risk to health, particularly as stronger forms of cannabis have been introduced.
AMSTERDAM | Thu Dec 15, 2011 2:31pm EST
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The reputation of the Netherlands as the go-to country for a legal joint will begin to vanish like a puff of smoke next year as sales to foreigners of cannabis and hashish in coffee shops are banned.
The Dutch government has been clamping down on the sale of soft drugs since 2007 because of gang-related crime and concern about the risk to health, particularly as stronger forms of cannabis have been introduced.
8.12.11
4 has-been former mayors want to export drug miseries to other cities
The push for legalized pot just dopey
Brian Hutchinson, National Post · Dec. 7, 2011
What is it about Vancouver and its determination to make pot smoking a regular activity, like drinking coffee? This is a city where construction workers are occasionally seen standing in circles, sharing a morning toke. Nothing like getting ripped before setting to work on a dangerous building site. Such as the one two blocks from the office tower where I work. But hey, it's just grass.
Brian Hutchinson, National Post · Dec. 7, 2011
What is it about Vancouver and its determination to make pot smoking a regular activity, like drinking coffee? This is a city where construction workers are occasionally seen standing in circles, sharing a morning toke. Nothing like getting ripped before setting to work on a dangerous building site. Such as the one two blocks from the office tower where I work. But hey, it's just grass.
4.12.11
Neuroscientist strongly against pot; lost three colleagues to it
(A letter in The Province, Nov. 29, 2011 • Section: Opinion)
The pot pushing club of Vancouver mayors has now reached four. British Columbians should firmly reject their entreaties to legalize marijuana.
They wish to enhance its availability on the grounds that it will bring revenue to the city and is harmless. Just say no. It is not a harmless agent. Our brain research laboratory at UBC published a series of papers in the 1970s specifically demonstrating brain damage from cannabis. I was invited to testify before a U.S. congressional committee on our findings. Three of my scientists ignored those findings. As marijuana users, they became incapable of designing and executing experiments. They were the only three I have lost in more than 50 years of managing young neuroscientists.
I have never been able to understand why anybody would be so foolish as to monkey with the biochemistry of their most precious organ, their brain.
Drug addiction is contagious. One user seduces another. As Vancouver mayors have found, Vancouver has a terrible problem dealing with the wasted lives of the addicted community. But that problem will soon spread to drug-free communities in this province and across Canada if the mayors’ advice is followed.
Criminals make money by addicting the foolish. It may be too late for the older generation who think exposure to marijuana is fine, but the younger generation could eliminate the problem.
Just say no to marijuana and no to being surrounded by users. They create nothing but problems for themselves and others.
Dr. Patrick McGeer, University of B.C.
http://blogs.theprovince.com/2011/11/29/province-letters-title-goes-here/
The pot pushing club of Vancouver mayors has now reached four. British Columbians should firmly reject their entreaties to legalize marijuana.
They wish to enhance its availability on the grounds that it will bring revenue to the city and is harmless. Just say no. It is not a harmless agent. Our brain research laboratory at UBC published a series of papers in the 1970s specifically demonstrating brain damage from cannabis. I was invited to testify before a U.S. congressional committee on our findings. Three of my scientists ignored those findings. As marijuana users, they became incapable of designing and executing experiments. They were the only three I have lost in more than 50 years of managing young neuroscientists.
I have never been able to understand why anybody would be so foolish as to monkey with the biochemistry of their most precious organ, their brain.
Drug addiction is contagious. One user seduces another. As Vancouver mayors have found, Vancouver has a terrible problem dealing with the wasted lives of the addicted community. But that problem will soon spread to drug-free communities in this province and across Canada if the mayors’ advice is followed.
Criminals make money by addicting the foolish. It may be too late for the older generation who think exposure to marijuana is fine, but the younger generation could eliminate the problem.
Just say no to marijuana and no to being surrounded by users. They create nothing but problems for themselves and others.
Dr. Patrick McGeer, University of B.C.
http://blogs.theprovince.com/2011/11/29/province-letters-title-goes-here/
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