To the editor:
In response to Russell Barth’s impassioned letter against the Right Honourable Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper, January 28, 2011: marijuana is dangerous.
Impartial scientific research will time after time tell us this. Chronic marijuana use can cause neuro-cognitive impairment, such as memory and retention loss, as well as mental health problems like psychosis, depression and anxiety.
And because cannabis is often smoked unfiltered in larger puffs with longer breath-holding, it can also lead to respiratory problems and possibly lung cancer.
Studies have also found adverse effects on the development, behaviour and mental health of offspring of women who use cannabis while pregnant. Because of potential cognitive impairment, chronic users could face limited educational and occupational achievements.
Marijuana available today is not the same as the marijuana sold 30 years ago. Levels of tetrahydro-cannabinol, the psychoactive substance in pot, are about four times higher today than they were in the 1970s.
At present, the benefits from the use of marijuana for medical reasons continues to be unproven.
According to a recent RCMP report, marijuana growing is an annual $7.5 billion business and is connected to such problems as weapons and explosives, trafficking, cocaine smuggling and stock market fraud.
Marijuana is a gateway drug. Marijuana growers and traffickers continue to grow rich, preying on the vulnerability of the misguided.
The slap-on-the-wrist penalties that drug violators receive is considered as simply the cost of doing business.
I commend the Conservatives for being tough on crime.
Bonnie Grootenboer,
Thunder Bay
In response to Russell Barth’s impassioned letter against the Right Honourable Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper, January 28, 2011: marijuana is dangerous.
Impartial scientific research will time after time tell us this. Chronic marijuana use can cause neuro-cognitive impairment, such as memory and retention loss, as well as mental health problems like psychosis, depression and anxiety.
And because cannabis is often smoked unfiltered in larger puffs with longer breath-holding, it can also lead to respiratory problems and possibly lung cancer.
Studies have also found adverse effects on the development, behaviour and mental health of offspring of women who use cannabis while pregnant. Because of potential cognitive impairment, chronic users could face limited educational and occupational achievements.
Marijuana available today is not the same as the marijuana sold 30 years ago. Levels of tetrahydro-cannabinol, the psychoactive substance in pot, are about four times higher today than they were in the 1970s.
At present, the benefits from the use of marijuana for medical reasons continues to be unproven.
According to a recent RCMP report, marijuana growing is an annual $7.5 billion business and is connected to such problems as weapons and explosives, trafficking, cocaine smuggling and stock market fraud.
Marijuana is a gateway drug. Marijuana growers and traffickers continue to grow rich, preying on the vulnerability of the misguided.
The slap-on-the-wrist penalties that drug violators receive is considered as simply the cost of doing business.
I commend the Conservatives for being tough on crime.
Bonnie Grootenboer,
Thunder Bay
