I am Not a Pot Head
In fact, I haven't had a puff of marijuana in years, nor I have taken anything other than the occasional glass of wine.
But, I just have to say something about a letter to the editor in yesterday's Toronto Star. Jeanette Wiltshire describes marijuana as a gateway drug that causes "an addiction that ultimately spirals into other potent drugs." This is bogus, dude.
I am sure that some people find that marijuana is addictive, like cigarettes or booze. It's probably bad for your lungs too. But, I wish people would drop the garbage about this being some sort of gateway drug. I know lots of professionals, from lawyers, to doctors, to crown attorneys, to professors who have indulged in pot and have never had the need or desire to smoke crack.
Why isn't alcohol labeled a gateway drug? Because it is legal and billions of dollars in profits and tax money are raked in every year. I drink wine and am not addicted to alcohol and have never felt the need to snort coke. I have smoked marijuana and have never been addicted to it and have never felt the need to shoot heroine. In other words, just because something might be addictive to some people doesn't make it a gateway drug.
Addendum: And, besides, how do we know that the gateway drug is not alcohol? Alcohol is generally the first drug that members of our society use, so it would follow that if one takes any other drug, then alcohol (legal and freely-available) should get the blame as having been the gateway drug.
10 comments:
I think they should do what they do in the Netherlands -- control access to it and tax it (oh, hey, remind you of the LCBO at all?)
Sounds good to me.
"Drugs are bad, mmmkay..."
People still really beleive that "gateway drug" argument?
I'm of the opinion that most arguments for keeping marijuana illegal would logically ban alcohol as well.
I think I need to stop posting about drugs and alcohol.
Yeah, as a result of your recent posts, we now all have a totally different opinion of you!
Moving on.
I figure it should be legalized as well. Enough people smoke (ahem... toke) on the streets, so why not stop wasting time on busting marijuana users and focus on the real badasses.
I think we all have far more to worry about than people getting high on weed.
I am also for legalizing it. The tax revenue will help and it really isn't that big a deal.
Myself, I still smoke up, not very often, 4 or 5 times a year, and it is not leading me into reefer madness, yet.
You know we learn something new about a person each day. I have never used any of it but have friends that did and they didnt feel that way either..
I think caffeine is a gateway drug. We start on the coca cola and chocolate as kids and then are into the harder stuff: coffee, expresso. I'm sure the next step is crack cocaine.
I think you are onto something :-)
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