Published in the Toronto Sun
25 August 2014
Re “The prince of pot returns” (QMI Agency, Aug. 13): Get ready for the debate on the legalization of marijuana to kick into high gear. Maybe someone will finally be able to give me an unbiased explanation of why in an age when we are so actively discouraging people from smoking tobacco cigarettes, to the point of banning them from outdoor areas such as parks and restaurant patios, that we seem headed down the path of legalizing the smoking of marijuana?
(Ask Justin Trudeau. Apparently he knows)
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The unedited column:
Re: “The prince of pot returns” (Aug 13), get ready for the debate on the legalization of marijuana to kick into high-gear. Maybe someone will finally be able to give me an unbiased explanation of why in an age when we are so actively discouraging people from smoking tobacco cigarettes, to the point of banning them from outdoor areas such as parks and restaurant patios, that we seem headed down the path of legalizing the smoking of marijuana. According to the American Lung Association, “…marijuana smoke contains cancer-causing chemicals…” and “…marijuana deposits four times as much tar in the lungs (as tobacco cigarettes)…..”*
Why is this irony lost on those who smoke it for medical purposes, especially to counter-act the effects of cancer treatments? Any MEDICAL doctor that I have spoken to advised that there is no reason to smoke marijuana for medical reasons as the active medicinal ingredients, THC and CBD, can be administered in vapour, pill, oil or spray forms. How many people who use it for medical reasons actively seek this form of the drug? I’ve never understood how it can be medically helpful to ingest smoke into your lungs. Do I sound cynical?
