People used to go to jail for possessing small quantities ofcannabis.  That’s rarely the case these days, at least in Canada; theUnited States is a different kettle of fish where the ever-fearedmarijuaniacs are reviled in some conservative states.

Marijuana is a relatively benign drug, though still a drug that cancause harm.

That said, there are many persistent, if patently false, claims aboutthe evils of marijuana.  One that seems to have some bite, in the lawenforcement community predominantly, is that marijuana is a so-called‘gateway drug’.

The theory is that if you use marijuana you are more likely to go upthe ladder of abuse to decidedly risky drugs such as cocaine andmethamphetamine.

The logic in the gateway theory is irrevocably flawed.  In essencewhat this failed theory suggests is that marijuana use leads to theabuse of other drugs.

Succinctly, picking a number out of thin air, say 80% of cocaineabusers have used marijuana.  According to the gateway theory thatmeans that marijuana use led to cocaine use.  Logically, that isnonsense.

One could as easily assert that 90% of cocaine abusers have drankalcohol.  Therefore, as this failed logic goes, alcohol consumptionleads to cocaine abuse.

Other theories abound.  Most are wrong – logically andscientifically.

Many people I know use marijuana.  They are neither criminals norabusers of other drugs.  In fact, in my experience, it’s more often thecase that the people I know who smoke marijuana are strongly againstother drugs, methamphetamines and cocaine in particular.  They knowthat using these drugs can lead to extreme mental and-or physical harm.

In balance, though, one must acknowledge that the immoderate use ofany drug can lead to emotional and physical problems.  Alcoholics andcigarette smokers come to mind.

So what’s the attraction of marijuana?

It is both a soothing and, sometimes, mind expanding drug.  It canalso, if exceptionally, cause wild mood swings, depression, erraticbehaviour and the like.  Not unlike alcohol.

Decriminalizing marijuana will not, in and of itself, create atsunami of criminal activity.  More likely, it would take away the hugeprofits organized crime enjoys.  ( Though organized crime will alwaysfind a way to custom-make new drugs to which people will be attracted. 

If taxed, like cigarettes, like alcohol, ‘legal’ marijuana couldgenerate millions in new revenues for government treasuries.

The bigger question, perhaps, is why we humans, many of us anyway,gravitate to drugs in the first place.

Why do I enjoy a nice cold beer? So much?

Alcohol, as marijuana, provides a relief.  It is not a sign ofweakness that we seek release and relief from our stresses, it’shealthy that we seek to relieve stress.

Stress, as Canadian Hans Selye, who coined the term in the 1950s,showed, is a healthy part of everyday life.  It makes us stronger. However, when stress goes beyond a tipping point, its damaging effectsaccumulate.  Relief, through drugs, meditation, exercise – choose yourpoison – appears in this context a ‘natural’ mechanism to protectourselves.

The best stress reliever, however, is a strong community – of family,friends and acquaintances.  Love remains the elixir that unburdens us.

Now there’s an addiction we can all live with.

Jim Mosher is the Editor of the Interlake Spectator.

Source: Stonewall Argus and Teulon Times, The (CNM
Copyright: 2010 Sun Media
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Author: Jim Mosher