APPENDIX B
LETTERS FROM PRIVATE CITIZENS

These letters, or excerpts of letters written by private citizens across the country, are in no way intended to represent a consensus of the opinions expressed in the great volume of correspondence the Commission has received during the initial phase of its inquiry.
They have been selected simply to show the type of public response so far encountered, as well as the wide divergency of viewpoints held by those who have had some personal involvement with the question of drug use in
Canada.
The Commission would like to express its appreciation to all those who have written for the careful thought they have so clearly given to the subject.
Since the Commission guaranteed anonymity when it was requested, every effort has been made to conceal the identity of the authors of these letters, or even their point of origin in Canada.
From a 19-year-old female who says she has been gainfully employed and living on her own for the past year:
"I have smoked marijuana and hashish for the past two years—with no ill effects as far as I can tell. I have yet to experience physical or mental withdrawal symptoms—even after smoking for a week steadily.
I must admit that I don't work well after smoking more than one jay of good weed. I guess that marijuana and derivatives are relaxing drugs rather than stimulants.
I have obtained an increased awareness of the stupidity of many of our laws—(i.e., those relating to drug usage, sex, and crimes without victims as well as many other injustices). I have developed a disdain for most law enforcers, especially undercover narcotic agents. Their consciences must be unbearable.
I have also done some chemicals—namely: acid, mescaline, psilocybin. I don't do these drugs often and never again in the city. They bring an increased awareness of just everything, and an increased awareness of city trips can cause a pretty freaky trip.
The main trouble with weed is that it is usually unavailable or of poor quality ..often sending people onto chemical trips. Also, since it is illegal, many innocent people are being subjected to harassment from the R-C.M.P., from the underworld, gangster element, and from unwanted additives in their drugs.
Please legalize marijuana and hash. Listen to what people (are) saying.
About the best thing you could do would be to get some good Mexican or Vietnamese weed, go to the country and smoke it. It'll do us all good."

From a 25-year-old female film technician in a major Canadian city:
"I have on many occasions smoked grass and hash and feel that I can speak with some authority on their effects. Grass, especially if it is known to be pure, is almost universally harmless. Close friends have, however, suffered paranoia trips of a minor yet upsetting nature as a result of smoking hash, especially kif. I usually do very little of either, preferring to take it coolly and wait for the slow reaction. In the cases of paranoia, the users have done quite a lot more than I—say 6 small chips to my 2 or 3 But overall, grass and hash are pretty innocuous and I can see no harm in their moderate use. My experiences have been happy—it stimulates my interest (already well stimulated!) in food and gives the illusion of enhanced sensory perception (I believe this to be an illusion, however pleasant at the time.)
Excessive use of grass and hash as I've observed in my friends and acquaintances causes reddening of the eyes and eyelids and a slight slowing down of reflexes and reactions. I consider these adverse effects but they are brought about by excess.
I know of no instance of grass or hash being spiked other than one batch of grass which apparently contained a small amount of unpleasant speed. The worst that happens with grass is that you get alfalfa or some other non-intoxicating substitute.
As far as other drugs are concerned I have to speak without personal knowledge as I've never used any myself. I have, however, discussed their use and effects at great length with friends. From these discussions I've concluded that:
(a) I would never touch any chemical bought off the street. They are definitely a risk.
(b) If I were to get a chemist's approval, I'd probably do some mescaline as I've read "Doors of Perception" by Aldous Huxley and have never spoken to anyone who went on a 'bum' mescaline trip. All speak highly of its effects in expanding awareness.
(c) Acid is a risky drug. Reports of 'bummers' are frequent and disturbing.
(d) Speed is definitely OUT. Far too dangerous.
In conclusion, I think that the treatment of drug users is barbaric. The search and destroy technique used by many R.C.M.P. officers is sickening. I consider it an outrageous invasion of privacy and citizens' rights that an R.C.M.P. officer can charge into a house unannounced, with no warrant and proceed with his search. (This, by the way, has never happened to me.) With laws as they stand it is the obvious duty of the R.C.M.P. to apprehend law breakers, but the fervour with which this is carried out far
exceeds the 'crime'.
Changes in the laws are called for. I think the legalization of grass and hash and the continuance of the present laws against pushers and users of stronger drugs would ease the embarrassing situation wherein a large number of Canadians are officially 'criminals'.
From the mother of two teen-age sons living in a suburban town:
"Please, help my sons. With my older boy, my husband and I have failed. We don't know how. We obey the law. We admire the guardians of freedom, our government and our police. We vote. We work hard and our taxes, not joyfully perhaps, but honestly.
But the older boy, soon as he reached his teens, laughed at the 'pigs', flaunted the law, and, until this commission on narcotics started, regarded any government as useless. Freedom he believes in wholeheartedly—his freedom. His freedom is all important. He must be free to experience drugs. And to practise his freedom, he infringes on mine. He steals from my purse, my husband's wallet, his brother's bank, his widowed grandmoth- er's small savings. His allowance is $1.50, too le to exercise his freedom to buy a nickle bag so he must, because he lives in a democracy, get the difference somehow.

He knows the law inside out. Possession can land him in trouble. So he never carries it with him. He knows he can use it as much as he likes as long as he doesn't have it on him when he's picked up. And he is picked up. Our very efficient, very overworked R.C.M.P. here have hauled him in and each time the young officers have bent over backwards to help him. He's cried. He's vowed repentance. And they let him go. And he laughs out loud later about the stupid narcs he conned.
Right now, he is on an unofficial probation for a year because he exercised his freedom to have something by stealing from a gas station. Charges weren't pressed because my son is a charming boy. But he knows to the minute when the year will be up. Then, armed with the published opinions of experts—doctors, psychiatrists, ministers, etc. who have favoured the Commission with their expertise, he will get lost in the shadow of drugs because his mom and dad don't know which end is up.
Should we chain him to his bed? Should we follow him whenever he leaves the house? How do we save him?
My younger boy said last night, "Mom, if the government is growing marijuana themselves, well, maybe Dick is right. And if they can get the real LSD, maybe that would be alright too."
No one takes one drink with the express purpose of becoming an alcoholic. No one lights up one cigarette thinking the day will come when it will become almost impossible to quit. No one sniffs glue, smokes marijuana, or tries LSD with the slightest thought of becoming an addict or statistic. Even someone playing Russian Roulette expects to escape unharmed.
Attempted murder is a punishable offence. So is attempted suicide. Drugs are murder weapons. Punish the seller. Punish the user. Don't consider throwing open the door to nightmare.
If my sons must die for freedom, let it be on a battlefield, not on an induced trip. Please, please help."
From a new Canadian living in a western city:
"I am not insane. I am not morally degenerate. I have committed no crimes of violence. And yet for a period of more than six years I used the 'killer drug'—marijuana! For about five years I consumed relatively large quantities of marijuana, followed by perhaps a year and a half of use of rather large quantities of hashish. Over this period of time there were probably not more than thirty days on which I did not smoke a quantity of one of these drugs or the other. Over the entire period I was employed by a research laboratory operated by a university in one of the western States, and my use of cannabis was terminated only by my immigration this country. After arriving here, knowing no one, and seeing the .` degree of infiltration into the so-called drug subculture by various po agencies, I decided that the danger to my personal freedom was entirely great to continue the use of my favourite intoxicants.
My gainful employment did not suffer because of my use of these dru which I restricted to evenings and weekends, although the performance several of my fellow workers was rather obviously degraded by their use alcohol.
It was my observation that I used larger quantities of these two dru than virtually any of my close friends, all but one of whom used marijua na. I believe this may be explained by the fact that about a year before trying marijuana for the first time I had kicked a three-and-a-half-packday cigarette habit. I never gave up the urge to smoke, although I have n used a tobacco cigarette in eight years.
My experience with other drugs is comparatively meagre. I tried opiuni once, with no effect. I tried cocaine once, and did not care for it. I tried mescaline once, and found it to be a most rewarding experience. I have never tried LSD, because I felt that I was not prepared for an experience as powerful as that described by my friends.
Nearly all of my friends used LSD repeatedly. In the group of 30 or more people I know who used this drug, no one had been hurt by it, although several had had unpleasant experiences. I did know several people who appeared to me to have made a mess of themselves through use of methedrine.
I have presented testimony in this form because I believe my own history may be of somewhat more value than another set of opinions. It is my belief that neither society nor I have been harmed by my use of marijuana and hashish. It is quite obvious, however, that many people have been harmed by society because of their disregard of the drug prohibition laws. Even disregarding the prosecution and imprisonment of people for using marijuana, I believe that the eroding away of the warmth and trust one wishes to feel towards other people, by the infiltration of undercover police officers, has done a great deal of harm.
I do not care for the effects of alcohol. I smoked marijuana because I enjoyed it. I have not been stoned in a long time now, and would like to get stoned again—legally! I hope you can do something about it."
From a member of the medical profession, signed: 'One who cares'
"Insofar as marijuana is concerned, as a member of the medical profession, I am familiar with the known effects of this drug, most of which are not negative, except in the hands of irresponsible and immature adolescents and adults (I might add) for whom the abuse of this substance is an escape from the responsibilities and realities of life to the degree that it interferes with their ability to function and produce effectively. However, it seems apparent that these types of people are basically unstable to begin with and it is is not the use of 'pot' that interferes with their productivity so much as the accompanying use of amphetamines, LSD, mescaline and the likes. The effects (negative) with which I will not argue. These are the drugs which should be wiped right off the market. These are the drugs which may produce a mad society.
I have worked extensively with addicts, hard-core addicts, neurotics, psychotics and alcoholics in my profession as a Psychiatric Nurse. I am quite familiar with the abuse of dangerous drugs and their consequences. I era also familiar with the underlying causes behind this sort of behaviour. Our efforts should be spent attacking these causes-prevention—so as to eliminate the necessity for treatment after much of the damage has already been done, often irreparable. Present circumstances make it apparent, we am in such a situation that it is now necessary to slap hard controls on the illicit drug market as well as attacking the basic root of the problem.
I can assure you that incarceration of young people for simply the use of marijuana is one of the deadliest mistakes of our time. I know only too well the effect that a prison environment has on a young, impressionable and relatively naive mind. To expose such a youngster to hard-core addicts, thieves, prostitutes and the lot is a damaging and very disillusioning traumatic experience from which it would take a great deal of personal strength to recover intact. Punitive and primitive measures which provide such an 'education' can mark a young one for life.
I will go so far as to say that we have hard-core addicts because our laws and institutions have been such as to produce them—the laws have made it necessary for these people to support heir habit; activities and associations being such as to reinforce negative and antisocial behaviour. Thus, ignorance, sickness and abuse multiply themselves and are perpetuated in a vicious-circle-like syndrome.
An addict is, basically, a person with a personality problem—social and emotional—and as such needs treatment, guidance, direction in accepting responsibility and most of all someone who cares enough to help him work out his fears and insecurities. I know how these people think and feel—beyond mere superficialities—beyond the hard wall of self-protection behind which they hide. In my work I was fortunate enough to win their trust and respect and therefore, their confidence, simply because I have cared enough to get involved, take the time and make the effort to understand. The complexities of our present drug problem are too numerous to account but, rest assured, we are only reinforcing the problems by our present laws and methods of 'treatment'. If more constructive laws and remedies are not soon devised by our government in Ottawa, this generation will become a generation of addicts—sick, hopeless and completely disillusioned with life. The addicts in prison are only a small and extreme indication of the abuse of drugs, although they are bearing the brunt of all of society's malady—they are the focal point—they are the ones who are reaping the punishment for the masses. We use them, as if we were a pack of wolves screaming for blood. But, stop: let us look around us, at ourselves and our acquaintances. We are the respectable and responsible citizens of our society.
My friends and my acquaintances cover a cross-section of our society—businessmen, teachers, social workers, doctors, nurses, white-collar workers, tradesmen—average straight citizens. Pot, liquor and cigarettes are numbered among their indulgences which I can accept as a normal part of life, providing they are used in moderation and do not interfere with their Personal well-being and social contributory output. But, I also see, over and above the aforementioned, many, many people hooked on tranquilizers sleeping pills, 'pep' pills and all such legitimately prescribed drugs. A; someone once said, "Take all the prescription drugs away and there would be a nationwide nervous breakdown". He hit it right on, as far as toy observations are concerned.
In view of this well-known but undermined fact, are we not being just a little harsh and a little hypocritical in our laws and in our indignation? Are we not wise or intelligent enough to recognize the reality that we are perpetuating the illness of our whole society? That unless we take stock of ourselves first and then the laws which create social injustice, our society is doomed to sickness and corruption? Let us not be naive, and let us not delude ourselves. The responsibility for the current situation and the rectification of the results lie at our feet. Let us hope that we have the stamina, the insight and the courage with which we like to pride ourselves, to change ourselves, and in so doing, effect positive change in our environment. This is the responsibility of each and every one of us. Lip service, obviously, is not enough. Action, and immediate action is imperative.
Respected members of the drug inquiry commission, you have embarked upon a vast and challenging undertaking which envelopes a problem which is so widespread that the future wellbeing of our country may rest in the outcome of your efforts made on my behalf and on the behalf of all with whom I identify—our people. Do not minimize the dire importance of your task. The action you take may make or break the whole concept of a free society—the effective functioning of a democracy in which basic love, respect, kindness and understanding towards each other as individuals must flourish in order for us to survive in accordance with the principles in which we must believe."
From the father of a teenager who is using marijuana, peyote, LSD and 'Speed'
"I must point out to you that during the late summer of 1966 my wife and myself had been 'scoffed' at by members of the R.C.M.P. and been given the 'brush off' by our local school board and also the Superintendent of Schools in our municipality while we were trying to bring it to their attention that drugs were being used by the students of the high school.
Between that time and the present our son has gone through various stages of deterioration. In June 1967 he married the obvious source of his drug, (a female assistant teacher) who made no secret of the fact that she obtained her supply of LSD and Synthetic Marijuana from the laboratory of the university and that she felt that life was not worth living without drugs.
Recently our son came home during a 'hangover' following a trip, he had been refused help at his psychiatrist's office. We took him to a neighbouring town to a physician whom we know and he was admitted to the hospital there. The next morning he demanded to be released and the doctors could do nothing but comply with his demands and release him. The doctor who attended him at this time informed us that our son will be lucky to live two or more years if he does not stop using drugs.
To summarize, we can only blame our educators who use and recommend the use of so-called soft drugs for the increasing numbers of students who fall by the wayside".

From a female, first-year university student who has smoked marijuana since she was in grade 10
First I was afraid but since the boy I liked at the time also smoked I decided to also, not wanting to be left out. At first, nothing happened to me but I got psychologically stoned and I laughed hysterically and walked around with glazed eyes like you were supposed to do. For a period of time I could hardly wait for each weekend so that I could go out and get stoned. I was sort of a fanatic. My marks were A—B and they stayed there. After this initial frenzy I began to do it with more of a purpose. I did it because it was relaxing—not particularly for an 'escape'. It was a social bond, really. Several people would get together and do up together. We would sit around after and talk or listen to records. I guess we felt closer because we had 'partaken' together. In this way, I met some of the finest people I have ever had the pleasure to meet, and I got to know people I had only previously superficially known. On the other hand, I met some pretty screwed up people. They had become psychologically dependent on marijuana. I am not a doctor by a long shot, but I figured that they were. Many of them at the time of writing have come out of it, though (me, for one). I also did hash. It makes you 'stoned' (I hate that expression) faster, but has the same general effect only perhaps stronger, depending on its quality. Soon enough, both hash and grass became sort of a pleasant treat at a party. I never took it when depressed because it only seemed to deepen my depression. But, if I were in a good mood, it made me feel very contented, warm and glad. Some of my most pleasant experiences have been after I have smoked either of those drugs. (This doesn't mean I have never had pleasant experiences when `down'). I never tried LSD until this summer. I am sure it was relatively good as I obtained it from someone I trusted. After taking it I fell asleep for a half an hour or so until my boyfriend came to pick me up to go to a party. On the way I had such a gas. Driving (I was a passenger) over town was more fun than it has ever been in my life. Everything seemed new and fresh—the trees, the road and just EVERYTHING. Then I became very cold although it was a warm summer night. I was very cold, and tiny things made me cry a lot. If the fly I had been watching flew from the room, tears came to my eyes because I took it for a bad omen. (Of what I don't know). I was left alone for a while in which time I came to the conclusion that I had no friends, I was a rotten, horrible, mean person and that deep down inside everyone hated my guts. I have never been so totally miserable. I am sure I lost 5 quarts of water crying. But then, my girlfriend came up to me and told me it was a bunch of crap and that I had tons of friends. All these people that I knew came to me and told me sincerely that they really and truly liked me. I have never felt such happiness. I doubt I will do acid again, but I am glad I did. I learned many things about myself—the hard way. Now I am trying to be a better person. Truthfully, I am sure I would not be the person I am today if it were not for my taking these drugs. I realize that I must go on now by myself. They started it, but I have to go on to find and become myself. I do not smoke dope very often anymore. Maybe once in a while with a few friends, but hardly at all. I am not sure whether legalizing it would be wise unless there were restrictions such as there are for alcohol. (I feel that the effects are the same, having tried both)."

From a first-year, male university student, age 23, who has used cannot, and mescaline for the past three years:
"My main contact with these drugs has been through my own use of marijuana, hashish and mescaline and association with others who have taken LSD and methedrine as well as the aforementioned.

I first started smoking marijuana three years ago at the age of twenty. At this time the quality was high and the price was inexpensive. I found a major change in my personality which in all probability had been latent up to that point. That is to say that I do not believe that this drug has an effect, such that it can change one's ideas and ideals through some chemical action. The effect I found it to have was that it relaxed my mind to the extent that I could accept myself for what I was, and this is not to say that I thought myself better than I was, or more capable than I had been, only that I was not particularly worried about other people's estimation of me.
From this point on is where my personal advancement took place for I did not have to focus my attention in impressing my employers, business associates and relatives. This impression-making may sound like a small thing and I know from my own experience that when one is involved in this type of life that one is not aware that any other attitude is available. This attitude begins in school with students doing school work not because they are interested in it but to impress the teacher and get passing grades. It carries on into the business world with trying to impress the boss. One would think that a person doing this sort of thing would feel degraded and like a prostitute. However, at least their conscious mind believes that that is what life is all about. The important thing about this attitude is that it manifests itself into one not doing anything or thinking about anything unless it has some impression or status value in relation to the group one wishes to impress. The only understanding of others that is done is in order that one may use the understanding for their own person gain. The friends one makes under this attitude are not true friends, but are only tools which one uses to advance up one's self-made ladder of success. For me, marijuana was useful in relaxing my mind to the point where I could realize who was a REAL person and who was a PHONY person. This, I suppose, was the major benefit which I had from marijuana. However, another interesting and somewhat beneficial aspect of the drug is this. The mind operates at a much faster speed resulting in conversations which to a straight person sound incoherent but to another person equally as high is perfectly understandable. As we know, the mind works considerably ahead of the words being spoken. With marijuana both the speaker and the listener are thinking so much ahead of the conversation that this thinking graduates to a point of conclusion maybe sentences ahead of the speaker. At this point the speaker usually stops talking as the talking has no more value. Doing this often enough can probably increase one's telepathic perception. Another benefit of this quick thinking is the vast amount of thinking one can do in, say, one night in relation to what the same person could do if he were not high. Quite often I have been amazed that only half an hour has passed when I could have sworn two hours had passed. This is because I had covered the same amount of thinking in this short time as I normally covered in the longer period. The good thing about any of these things I have mentioned is that these qualities after extended usage of marijuana become part of you not because any of the drug remains in your system, but because you recognize this type of thought as existing and beneficial.

I have smoked a good deal of hashish over the past year and have found the effects to be almost identical to marijuana. I think one of the main differences between the two is the form hashish is in and the manner in which it must be smoked. It is much more difficult to attain the same degree of communion between participants as marijuana. it is difficult to keep it lit  when smoking  it in a pipe and if you hold a match to it, the substance burns rapidly. This usually because of the cost of it, causes the pipe to be passed around in such a hurry as to distract from the calm atmosphere which would be present with marijuana. Smoking it from the tip of a cigarette, while alleviating the problem of it not burning steadily, means that people must be jumping up and down for their toke. It is obvious to see whY this atmosphere is not conducive to any degree of conversation. Smoking a drug in this fashion starts one feeling like a dope addict who is taking a drug just to get high. This is an immediate hangup which one must rid one's self of before anything constructive can get started.
Mescaline, I found to be more interesting rather than really helpful  It increased the intensity of my visual perception. Colors were  sometimes brighter. Through this increased visual perception I could become involved with the artistic beauty of practically everything I saw. Having no artistic ability beforehand, I discovered upon sitting down before a piece of paper that I could imagine an image on that paper and draw that image. It has always been impossible to be angry with anyone while I was stoned, not because I didn't realize that I was entitled to be angry, but because I understood that the person was doing or saying something because of a hurt or a hangup they had. The only difficulty I encountered, and which I encountered each time I took mescaline was an intense paranoia of the police.
I have suffered no physically or mentally harmful effects from my usage of these drugs, to the contrary, I returned to night school last year and again this year and have never before received the grades I am now achieving. Last year I got straight "A's" in English where previously I had "C's" and "D's" and this year I am at the top of my class in first year university English. I have also taken up music by learning how to play the guitar and frequently get together with other musicians for jam sessions which I enjoy immensely. I hold down a full time job which I have been employed at for the last five years. I keep this job only because I am in debt from my past years of trying to keep up with the Jones's. I will be out of debt by the end of next summer and will be starting full time at University. I plan to become a social worker.
I believe that all drugs should be available through government controlled outlets. A standard quality and potency would then be able to be controlled and would put the syndicates out of the drug business. I say all drugs, not because I think all drugs are safe or even useful, but only because of the fact that people are going to use these drugs whether they buy them from the government or from the syndicate. If they buy it from the latter it is (1) financing a criminal organization (2) not controllable as to quality (3) not able to keep statistics as to the number using it (4) if an addictive drug, not able to control cost which would of course skyrocket and cause criminal addicts. I believe that an intensive education system must be developed to accompany this freedom of the individual in deciding for himself whether or not he will take a drug. This education or information must be strictly scientific, medical and objective with no moral judgments placed upon the individual for these judgments are what have ca
the distrust towards authorities' findings in the past. The final responsibility must be placed on the individual. There should be 'trip centres' where a person could take drugs in pleasant surroundings for a small fee to cover the cost of a 'guide' or an attendant who is familiar with these drugs.
I believe there should definitely be an age limit of eighteen years old for hard drugs and no age limit for marijuana and hashish. I also believe that each person should be held legally responsible for actions detrimental to others while under the influence of these drugs for he would be informed that he may well do something he wouldn't normally under some of these drugs.
I am not trying to make a moral judgment on drug taking for I personally would like to see man utilize his brain power without the use of drugs. However, I firmly believe that this decision should be left to the individual to decide, for only when he accepts the responsibility for his own action, will he be able to really think for himself if the dangers are worth the results for some drugs are dangerous, very dangerous. If our society is or is not to be a drug society it will not be decided by legislation,
but by the people. Let's not forget, 'The government that governs least governs best'."
From a 5I-year-old male professional living in a Canadian city:
"About two years ago I was introduced to marijuana by some y friends who were concerned over my tensions and heavy drinking at time. I now smoke about 3 or 4 joints a week, either alone or with frien I must exercise great caution for obvious reasons, but will continue 'break the law' because I consider it unreal, unjust and unfounded on facts.
I have nothing but positive facts to give you. My drinking has reduced itself to wine before dinner (I can no longer 'tolerate' hard liquor). I s well and have found two psychosomatic symptoms of tension (pson
and neurasthenia) have all but disappeared. I have 're-discovered' music. find my creative interests and abilities enhanced. A waning sexual capaci has reversed itself, particularly when I use the drug in making love wi my wife. I have had little paranoia—and only that when not sure of th identity of my smoking companions. I seem to have a quieter, deeper understanding of my children (two boys, 6 and 10) and other children and have not physically punished my boys for over a year.
I am particularly impressed with the effect of cannabis on sensory awareness with nature—and of course my work constantly takes me into this area. I find no habit-forming characteristics in the drug and go for weeks at a time without its use. If there is any psychic dependence it is probably no more or less than that felt for Bach or sunshine.
I feel marijuana should be legalized but controlled by Government and restricted to 18 years and older."
From a 26-year-old skilled tradesman who says he and his wife, also regularly employed, have been regular users of marijuana since 1967:
"Our use of marijuana has not affected our ability to fulfill our employment obligation, nor is there any problem with our functioning in society the way this ridiculous assumption has been played up in local newspapers.
Before I started using pot, I was basically an aggressive person who perhaps drank a little too much. I was basically lazy with no ambition than having a good time at any expense, with little or no respect for opposite sex, nor did I feel any obligation in any form of religion and
frauowed no moral code whatsoever.
I feel the use of marijuana has broadened my outlook on life and caused ID, take stock of myself and my future. Marijuana can be used in whatever way the user desires. It caused me to think of my future, and changed me from an irresponsible, rather uncultured individual into one with responsibility. It provided me with a desire to get ahead. It gave me compassion for other people as well as all living things. It has caused me to appreciate the small things in life, something I never before gave any
thought to.
I realize I have to contribute a lot of this change that has come over me to growing up and maturing, as well as the love of a wonderful girl who shares all my views, but I know my own mind, and marijuana at the least has played a small but important role in the evolution of myself.
I do not use alcohol anymore, because I find it causes nothing but aggressiveness and arguments and sometimes fights between the people using it. Give the same group marijuana and the aggressiveness is gone. The loudmouth trouble maker does not exist. People tend to communicate with their fellow man and an atmosphere of friendliness and consideration is enjoyed by most. It would be ridiculous to say it is automatic Utopia for all, but it is definitely an improvement in social behaviour for most."
From a senior student of languages at a Canadian university:
"The point I want to draw to the attention of the Commissioners today is that while alcohol kills enough brain cells to temporarily cloud the mind and its memory function while generally fuzzing the sensibilities, with marijuana the effect is OPPOSITE. Let me say that during the past two and one half years I've used marijuana three times; most recently in April of this year. And I should say also that I carry no brief for drugs in general. I come from a family so ornery about human intake of artificial compounds that as a matter of course we use neither aspirins nor monosodium glutamate nor cyclamates—and brew our own wine, beer and cider, out of distaste for chemically-aged alcohol and respect for dissident
Irish ancestors."
From a teacher living in one of Canada's larger cities who signs himself 'A
middle-class dope fiend':
"I am 30 years old, married, with three children and one dog. We live in a three bedroom house in the suburbs purchased three years ago, about the time my wife and I began smoking marijuana. Our children attend the Public school system, where their performance is substantially better than average. They also attend Sunday school, though my wife and I have rather fallen away from the strong Catholicism of our upbringing. We own two cars, two tv's, a barbecue and a large mortgage by the standard valuations, we are typical, responsible citizens. We usually vote Liberal, visit the dentist twice a year and have never been in jail. At least not yet.
But for the past three years we have courted economic and social ruin by having in our possession, usually, small quantities of marijuana, LSD and mescaline. Why take such a risk, which to a non-user probably seems disproportionately great? Simply because we feel we have the personal right to determine the ways in which our own consciousness will be altered. Psychedelic chemicals have become a part of the kind of lives we are attempting to lead, as much as television or beer fit into the life-styles of others in our society.
By now you are undoubtedly familiar with the reasons people give for using psychedelics, so I will merely say that marijuana provides us with a useful means of relaxing out of the tensions of everyday, while LSD oe an occasional break with 'reality' not unlike a religious retreat inil itsrs therapeutic effects. My wife and I have used marijuana about three times a week and LSD perhaps 5 times a year over the last three years, with no apparent physical, mental or psychological ill effects.
I am a teacher, and have found it convenient to conceal my use of drugs from my students and colleagues. Nevertheless, it is obvious from my vantage point that a large proportion of students--larger by far than the usual estimates of principals and other 'experts'—are using soft drugs regularly. I have never advocated the use of drugs to my students; nor can I in conscience recommend to them the unjust and inconsistent laws which govern the use of drugs, including alcohol, in this country. I have observed that the very illegality of marijuana often inclines students to try hard drugs, on the theory that they have nothing to lose, since they're already breaking the law by smoking grass. It is also difficult to persuade a student who knows that marijuana is harmless, that society is not lying when it says that heroin too, is bad for him.
I have a large circle of friends, about half of whom are professionals—teachers, lawyers, doctors, etc.—and half belong to the drug-youth subculture of artists, hippies and students. Of perhaps 200 acquaintances who use drugs regularly, none to my knowledge has ever had a serious problem resulting from the use of drugs, though some will overdo it, by, for example, staying on LSD for several weeks. It appears to me that serious difficulties arise in those who have personal problems which precede the use of drugs. Stable, 'respectable', mature people tend to remain stable after the drug experience. Others, myself included, are able to use psychedelics therapeutically to assist their personal growth.
Self-therapy is at best risky, however, and I would much prefer to have taken LSD for the first time in a medically and psychologically safe environment where pure drugs would be administered to prepared people in ideal surroundings. Such a centre, which might be governmentally licensed, would be used for such powerful drugs as LSD, MDA, psilocybin, STP and of course.
mescaline. The innocuous marijuana requires no such elaborate trappings, May I propose my 'ideal' drug laws?
I. Marijuana would be available in much the same way as tobacco is now, preferably marketed by the federal government; parents would likely be about as successful in controlling its use as they now are regarding tobacco (i.e. entirely, if they are adequate parents, not at all if they are not);
2. LSD, psilocybin et al, would be available on doctor's prescription, after the 'patient' had been introduced to the drug in a Hollywood Hospital (New Westminster, B.C.) type of establishment;
.1. The 'speed' group of drugs would be available by prescription only, and a massive true program of drug education instituted; 4. The British example with regard to narcotics would be followed.
The easy availability of any drug in a free society suggests that education, not laws are the only reasonable response to the problem. But every day the present laws are perpetrated on the young people of the country, the cause of those who argue that only revolution can bring about necessary change is furthered. The youth of Canada are watching you to either Prove or disprove this theory. You have an urgent responsibility in justice, to see that these laws are changed for the better, as soon as possible. Godspeed."
From a middle-aged mother of three who is a professional writer married to a scientist;
"In his bid to solve the 'generation-gap' our middle son brought a packet of marihuana to us for a Christmas present a year ago. I was slightly horrified because I hoped, like most other parents, that my children were not using it. I was not prepared to try it then. 'However, with the same sort of persuasion that had previously won him the permission to keep a live garter snake, paint his room in odd colours, and study art instead of mathematics, I tried it as did his father, brother and sister.
Not too much happened the first time, except that a kind of mellowness settled over the family. We smiled a lot and listened to music that seemed somehow less forbidding than when the kids played the records previously. The next night we smoked the rest of it, and the place started swinging. It was really marvellous. Everyone managed to talk together, about trivialities mainly, there was no tendency to put down anyone. Opportunities to complain or dig at the lack of academic diligence that was always part of the previous conversations with this boy were ignored, and father in particular listened to some of his ideas with a semblance of civility. That alone made the experience worthwhile. The family that night was closer together than anytime I can recall. I was greatly surprised to see that what had seemed to be many hours was only an hour and a half. We were all very happy together, and went off to our rooms feeling as if we loved each other for the human beings we were, not for mere points on a scale of achievement.
For the first time in years my husband and I talked for an hour or more about work, plans, memories, problems and possible solutions--all things we never discussed with each other because of the old scientist/humanist conflict and the rivalries that develop between people in conflicting fields of interest. The miracle is that he seemed also to be a human being, and not only a work machine that ignored people, and particularly his family. I must have seemed somewhat more reasonable to him too, as he did not try to depreciate my interests.
The real miracle followed when we had intercourse. Instead of the dull, perfunctory act it had become, usually indulged in on my part because it made it possible to get out of it the next night, sex was something splendid. All the old routine thrust and counter thrust to get it over with as soon as possible disappeared. The sensation was extraordinary, each second was a kind of new adventure, each movement an experience, and the climaxes beautiful beyond description. It was far more beautiful than the first weeks of marriage, and the glow of fulfillment lasted throughout the next day. It was both a physical and intellectual rediscovery between two people who knew each other too well for too long.
I sincerely wish it were possible to share this discovery with some of my friends who find their own marriages as stupidly dull as I had done, but the legal restrictions make it unwise to offer this information. It seems to me that the wise prescription of marihuana by marriage counselors and/or physicians might be helpful in 'un-blocking' the hang-ups that develop over years of marriage. I would think its therapeutic use in their field alone could contribute to the solution of many problems in our society. Also, the ability to forget old differences and communicate with the grown children in a more genuine manner is also socially significant.
The effect is exactly opposite (to me) to alcohol. Drinking with my husband alone is always a depressing situation, and I do not like the idea of drinking with my children other than wine with dinner. Unlike alcohol, I have not seen in the dozen or so times I've tried marihuana, anyone become hostile or aggressive, or obnoxious for that matter. People do withdraw into themselves to listen to music or explore their own thoughts, but it is not a negative kind of withdrawal. During a couple of sessions I wrote down snatches of conversation which seemed particularly entertaining or brilliant, and when I looked at them later (sober?) they were still valid points to note. Some fascinating flights of fancy have taken place during which a subject was discussed and elaborated upon, and projected into more complex levels, and at least three of these hold the basis for some good research ideas. As a writer, I can compare it to those rare moments when the creative process is at work and ideas flow into some kind of form that can be expanded with the aid of diligent research.
Another phenomenon which interests me is the change in the time/space ratio that one experiences with marihuana. Five minutes can seem like an hour under some circumstances, and awareness of all things present is greatly heightened. Textures are obvious, colours brighter, sounds much more intense, etc., as expressed in the pot poetry of the young. I wish someone would study this phenomenon and see if this expanded awareness is conducive to greater and more rapid learning. Can you shove more information into a five minute period that seems like an hour than you can in a non-pot five minute period? In my own experience I've learned more about music in 12 pot sessions than in the previous 40 years, and even find that I can both speak and understand more French than normally. If this is not due to the time/space phenomenon, maybe it helps establish the role of inhibitions in the learning process. I'm not recommending a joint before every language class, but am suggesting that there are things to be learned from research into the effects of marihuana that might have positive implications in human conditioning.
It is only honest to report that I have experienced one 'bad trip.' I was very depressed about a variety of matters and my husband suggested a smoke. It was a poor idea, as the depression magnified and on that occasion it was impossible to substitute good experiences for the ideas that were already disturbing me. It is much more fun in a group than with only two people, possibly because there is more opportunity to interact. All the major sorts of discretion and codes of conduct seem to remain intact. I doubt if people do things under marihuana that they would not normally do. There has been no tendency to group sex, orgies, obscenity, etc. in my
282 experience. Among people who are less up-tight about such things, it is probably a normal part of it, but one doesn't have to do things that are against his value system unless he wants to. What it does do is make people feel kindly to one another. It permits a discarding of those preconceptions and prejudices that we hold to one another. It may be valid to extrapolate this further by saying that one holds prejudices as a kind of self-protection. If one drops the prejudice and admits the equality of another, he is in a sense dropping his guard, leaving his ego undefended. If, under marihuana, one does not need this big ego protection, then it is reasonable to regard others in their essential humanity. Applying this concept to the behavior of the younger generation, one begins to understand why differences in class, race, social position, affluence, etc., hold little interest and are not the source of conflict amoung them. If this could be proven, I might as a sociologist, recommend that we put pot in the metrecal of the Pentagon and Kremlin, and a few other places too.
Thank you for listening. You have my permission to use this information in any way you wish, since I think the names of the guilty have been changed sufficiently to protect the innocent. May I also commend your committee on the genuine, considerate and intelligent manner in which you have conducted the hearings. I am truly impressed by your approach, and am prepared to respect your conclusions."
From a 25-year-old male university graduate:
"I have been using grass and hash for four years and feel it should be legalized immediately. Grass and hash are two beautiful gifts to man from mother nature, and have made my life fuller. To think those two substances are classified together with such hard drugs as heroin is absolutely absurd. I have never used heroin and don't intend to.
I hope your task has a happy conclusion in the legalization of marijuana and hashish.
Love and peace."
From the mother of three children, living in a medium-sized Canadian town:
"I wasn't able to attend any of your hearings so thought I would write our experience and opinions to you. I understand I could write anonymously but I will use our names. I don't mind what you do with what I write about but I would appreciate it if our names were not publized.
We have a family of three—our oldest daughter aged 21, is married since last May. Our son who is 18 is in first year Science. Our youngest daughter who was 17 in October is also in her first year of an Arts course.
We are comfortable financially, (I would say in the above-average income group locally).
We enjoyed a happy home. In bringing up our children we weren't stuffy about unimportant things but put our stress on the basic values of life—honesty, etc. We think we were good parents (by this we are not saying we didn't make any mistakes). Our children tell us we are good parents and their teachers have said we are good parents. We brought them up to express their own opinions, even though it may not always have been the most popular opinion, in class discussions they contributed a lot and yet their good sense of values in the Humanities showed through.
There was no communication gap in our home. We discussed everything and no subject was taboo.
In spite of all the above mentioned we have just gone through two years or so of our own private hell in our own family life because our youngest daughter decided to experiment with drugs.
I should mention that all three of our children are very intelligent (above average) so it wasn't a case that she was ignorant of the facts. She
didn't put us into any danger as far as the law goes as she never brought any home, just the results.
When I hear drug users, in defence of drugs, say teenagers should be allowed to use them because it is their own life, they are messing up--no one else's—this is not true. When you love the member of your family as we all did, and see the change in attitude and personality before you, there are no words to describe the agony the rest of the family goes through and how it does disrupt normal family life.
Our younger daughter was a brilliant student and excelled in sports and had many friends who were always welcome in our home. She was very close to her brother as they shared many common interests and friends.
About 3 years ago, after seeing T.V. programs on drugs (mind expanding), mostly pro, like Timothy O'Leary she asked me if she could try LSD. I said I couldn't give my permission because there are too many unknowns as far as I could tell and since she was only fourteen I couldn't stand the idea that she could destroy her brilliant mind. It was too much of a gamble.
Against our wishes and without our knowledge—she tried it. I became suspicious when we noticed a great change in her attitude and personality and she was frightened to sleep in her own room, as a matter of fact, she got so she couldn't sleep and we were concerned for her sanity. She herself became worried that she was losing her mind, so I encouraged her to see her pediatrician at our clinic. Unfortunately, he was of no help to her and she lost faith in doctors. She gradually dropped all her friends (some loyal friends since kindergarten) and associated exclusively with dropouts, marijuana users and pushers and American draft dodgers were her exclusive social life now. Most of them were five or six years her senior. Her marks slipped at school (but she never failed a grade). She still was interested in sports but in her own words she couldn't hack it because she wasn't physically fit enough. Relations between her and her brother became strained and to make a long story short she was a horrible child that only a mother could love, and even for the mother it took some doing.

Her sister was away at University so missed out on a lot of the hassle that when on but my husband, son and I discussed it with great concern and decided since we could not seem to get her to see what she was doing to herself (Her only answer was that it was harmless), we would show her that we love her which we truly did, regardless of what she said or did to hurt us. We did this for a year without any results (as a matter of fact, she came home stoned more frequently than ever). We never knew what combination of junk she had had because she herself didn't always know. I don't think she took heroin although she tried to assure me that you couldn't become addicted to heroin by skin popping heroin. One of her drug pusher friends told her so and it seemed what he told her was gospel truth.

As much as we tried we found no one that could really help us—a minister was no use because she had given up believing in God. If there is information available we weren't able to find any that was useful to us.
We were beginning to have doubts as to whether we were using the right approach so we decided to contact the R.C.M.P. constable that was working with the schools in the drug field. We have never told our daughter about this and perhaps we will never tell her if there is nothing to he gained from it. We told him some of our friends were advising us to get tough and tell her to quit drugs or pack her bags, but he said "No, smother her with love". We were glad he said that because we never could have rested had we put her out.
To shorten the story the stress and strain and worry became a lot worse, off and on and about the only time we got a little relief was when the pusher got busted and there was no stuff available. Several of her close friends got busted for possession and it was during one of these periods when she had time to clear the cobwebs from her mixed up brain that we started noticing a marked improvement in her attitude and she started to admit how harmful it had been and how psychologically dependent she had become on marijuana. She realizes that she has lost the power to concentrate for longer periods of time, she has trouble sleeping at times and has days of depression, but after being off it for four, five months now we are hopeful that she has licked it and will not fall prey to it again. She said she gets it offered frequently on campus but so far has been able to say 'no thank you' to all the offers.
When she was home for Thanksgiving weekend I asked her if she thought marijuana should be legalized and she said 'no, it shouldn't'. She has discovered around town that the users start at a younger age than she did (and she was plenty young) so she feels it would be far too dangerous. She also feels there should not be so much publicity about it describing exactly how to glue sniff, etc. because she said if kids haven't thought about trying it before, it just makes them curious enough to try it. She said she never would have tried drugs if it hadn't been for hearing Tim O'Leary tell about it on T.V. and the program didn't have a good enough balance telling the bad sides of it. She did feel kids shouldn't get sent to jail or have a criminal record if they are caught with it because she said they learn worse things in jail from hardened criminal types. I am inclined to go along with that. She feels kids that try it, a good many of them, have some metnetaadl. quirk to start with and should be given psychiatric treatment
instead.
You have no idea how happy we all are to have this monstrous problem behind us and to be a happy family again.
Hope this will help you in a small way in your decisions." From a 21-year-old electronics technician:
"I have been smoking marijuana regularly for about two years now. During this time I have been working and studying and at no time has this interfered with either. I am definitely in favour of legalizing pot at this time. I would definitely not attribute any gains to my use of pot but it has in no way been a liability to me. I have quite a few friends who also use pot and also fall in the same category. My hopes are that this Inquiry may be instrumental in reversing this law."

From a 31-year-old father of three who calls himself an 'average Joe'
earning $9,500 a year, and who has experimented with cannabis, mescaline and LSD:
"Now, to be logical and realistic—how on earth can we condone the use of alcohol and tobacco and saturate ourselves daily with these substances while at the same time hanging criminal records on people who dare to touch marijuana and hashish—substances that have yet to be proven even equally as harmful?
To me this would represent the height of hypocrisy and is an obvious blatant evidence of a sick society!
Do we stop to realize that with every day that the existing legislation continues, the gap of our young people's confidence in our government and our legal system widens? Need we even enumerate here the ultimate consequences of such a state of affairs?
When I think of our government, or any government putting young people away to rot for years with hardened criminals in penitentiary—for such things as smoking 'grass' or 'hash', I cannot help but be reminded of what the Communists did to political prisoners in Siberia! I would like to think that we are part of a slightly more enlightened society.
There is no denying that the Government of Canada is faced here with a difficult and serious task and all consequences of a change in legislation must be carefully weighed.
The following are my suggestions and I feel certain that most knowledgeable people would concur with them and I am confident that something along these lines will eventually come to pass:
1. Marijuana and hashish to be legalized and manufactured under government control with supervision of quality and distribution, and the application of excise tax etc.
Alternatively, each citizen can grow cannabis for the use of his own household only (much like wine can be made now) with continued ban on the sale of such substances.
This should certainly detract from the use of such harmful substances as speed, heroin, etc.
2. LSD and mescaline to be responsibly manufactured and distributed to certain people by pharmacists on a doctor's recommendation or prescription only. When I say 'certain people' I mean people who have satisfied a doctor that they are responsible and sane. Why not let the medical men decide who can use these beautiful and in many cases useful (alcoholism) substances?
3. Heroin must be legally prohibited—I doubt that Heroin can ever do anyone any good.
4. The use of speed, amphetamines, bennies, diet pills, etc. should be discouraged by appropriate educational campaigns supported by the government. Most people already know that these things are harmful. The government might also have a look at some of our food dyes and artificial flavours, sweeteners, etc.
Most marijuana that a large percentage of users have come in contact with has been of an inferior grade and cut with various possibly harmful substances or impurities. I am sure that many kids have tried this 'garbage' and shrugged it off as ineffective and uninteresting and have consequently, order to obtain the alleged 'kick', turned to methedrine and amphetamines, thereby doing themselves untold damage.
This hazard could in all probability be largely eliminated by legalization and quality control of real marijuana and hashish. (It would also be pointless to legalize 'grass' only and continue to condemn 'hash'.)
In my humble opinion, the discovery of LSD-25 and its possible use in psychotherapy and medicine is a 20th Century achievement of far greater importance and beneficence to man than walking on the moon. Taking a small dose of LSD can be a very beautiful and enriching experience indeed.
The only problem with 'acid' is that in order to benefit from it and really have a good 'trip', it requires that the individual make a certain effort to be aware of himself while under its influence, to concentrate a bit or meditate, if you will. If this is not done, you have a 50/50 chance of getting 'lost' in the corners of your mind or in your imagination alone, and this can be terrifying to say the least. A good trip conductor should be present for anyone trying it for the first time or for anyone who has had previous difficulties under it. It should never be arbitrarily given to anyone who already has an unbalanced emotional-mental makeup or who is paranoid, has strong guilt complexes, etc.
It is easy enough to see that anyone who has latent suicide tendencies could go off the deep end under acid. On the other side of the coin, I happen to know a married couple who had been bickering for years and were on the verge of a break-up who, after an acid trip together, re-discovered their original love for each other and are now living in model marital bliss. And it is great for those who want to have glimpse or an inkling of what 'God' is; what creation is all about. Of course it will not transform overnight a real criminal into a model citizen, but in certain cases, with proper guidance it could probably go a long way in this direction. For anyone in doubt, it can show that needless killing is a sin or that insincerity is a form of sin. Also, it is almost useless to try and describe it to anyone who has not tried it.
I would recommend that all serious members of the Commission go on a conducted acid trip prior to further research or probing, and it goes without saying that anyone conducting research on grass should know firsthand what grass is all about. Otherwise, it would be like studying swimming by watching swimmers."
From an instructor at a Canadian university:
"Recently I was unable to purchase marijuana and when a friend offered me some `MDA' I thought it would be interesting to try this drug. The first 'trip' was a good one where I experienced all the usual symptoms, euphoria, etc. but the second one had disastrous consequences. After a brief period of euphoria I went into a state of extreme depression in which my only concern was to end my misery by any means possible, including suicide. Luckily, the friend with me pulled me out of my depression by making me walk and talk. (The `MDA' I believe had some stimulant in it as we walked for six hours and felt 'strange' whenever we were standing still.) The worst part of the trip came later when I noticed that every inanimate object was hostile towards me. Everything had the power to destroy me. A candlestick could club me, shoes could trample me, the fireplace could devour me, etc. I wrote my thoughts down hoping that setting them out would make me see how ridiculous they were.

"It's like going insane and knowing every minute of it". Needless to way, i was terrified. Fortunately the paranoia did not last and I believe I have fully recovered now, about one week after my 'bad trip'.
I have told you this story hoping you would come to the same decision about drugs that I have reached. I felt safer (legally) taking MDA than marijuana because I had previously found out that although possession of this drug was illegal, prosecutions were rare and conviction did not carry such harsh penalties as those imposed on marijuana users. Also, since all these drugs were illegal and I knew marijuana was harmless, I was not about to reject the drug on the grounds that it was forbidden. The law concerning marijuana was stupid, therefore, in my opinion, so were all laws about all drugs.
I urge you to recommend the legalization of marijuana. Perhaps young people, then, will regain respect for the law. Perhaps they will use marijuna (if they must use something) and reject destructive and dangerous amphetamines. I will allow my children to use marijuana and at the same time I will try and convince them of the dangers in these unknown drugs. Further, I will give them marijuana if doing so will protect them from the experience I had. Do you see that I must be sensible and just, to win their respect and obedience? Do you also see that legislators must exercise the same reason before they can expect co-operation from the people?"
From a 23-year old graduate student in engineering, male, who smokes marijuana and hashish 'socially' and finds that it does not affect his studies:
"I think the laws on soft drugs must be changed. Marijuana, hashish and. mescaline should be legalized. Marijuana should be treated exactly as tobacco is treated presently. Mescaline is a more tricky case, all I can say, is that the federal government should control it so that quality would be ensured and pushers would be eliminated. I do not think age restrictions would work any better than the age restrictions we have on tobacco which mean only a slap on the wrist for an offender. The present laws have totally alienated young people. Policemen are 'pigs', MLA's are 'pigs' in their eyes. Can you blame them? People who have never tried a 'joint' are telling kids they cannot smoke because of countless harmful effects. Take a walk along Hastings Street in downtown Vancouver (Gastown) and see what alcohol, the adult poison, has done to what were once human beings. The type of kids who get busted for smoking are the one who go to the - street dances to dance with and entertAin all those pitiful alcoholics. I've been there so I'm not making it up.
Make marijuana legal and the kids will believe that heroin and speed kill when told by the lawmakers. They do not when all the illegals are lumped together.
LSD? I have not tried it, so no opinion. I can say that many of my friends have, with no bad trips or noticeable lasting personality changes. I'm not sure, though, and don't want to try it, especially with the quality being sold now.
Another danger with present laws is that we could have the situation which exists in the United States where a Black Panther can be convert-
jolly put awaY for thirty years for possessing a 'joint'. We have no Black panthers? How about separatists, radical students, dirty long hairs, future inciianrebelsn
want to know how easy it is to get grass or hash? I have three sources of bash and can pick up a gram at any time. I usually buy a gram every few weeks or else smoke some of my friends'. I have to admit that good grass is rare because it is becoming much riskier to smuggle or sell due to its bulkiness. During the summer there is lots more particularly on the west coast. Much is locally grown. In any case I've never been short in three years. All one has to do to get some is to make friends who know a few people, etc. People talk about it. There is very little paranoia."
From a female school-teacher in a medium sized Canadian town:
"Both my husband and I smoke marijuana and hashish and have not found it the least bit detrimental to our health—physical or mental. Marijuana has been an encouraging factor in our marriage and partnership to tie our union closer together as we can explore and discover ourselves and our environment with an open and free mind.
Because of my profession, a school-teacher, and my husband's job we have to be extremely cautious and careful, limiting our enjoyment of smoking marijuana in our basement behind locked doors. Many of our friends join us and unite with us in our plea to the Canadian Government to reconsider the 'marijuana laws'. May I say now, that I exclude other mood-changing drugs such as LSD.
Smoking marijuana and hashish has not affected my teaching in a destructive way, but rather, helped it. I teach primary children and find it much easier now to communicate with the children at their level and meet their demands in a more satisfying way.
The people who have made the laws against marijuana (government) and the people who administer the laws (policemen) have most probably never lit a marijuana cigarette and never will. Some changes and improvements in these laws should be done in the near future.
It is ironic that our present marijuana laws are upheld chiefly by the older generation and condemned by the young generation. For it is the senior generation that should understand the issue most clearly, having lived through the era of alcohol prohibition."
From a female school-teacher:
"My husband and I are 25 years of age, middle class, school teachers and heads. On weekends we break the existing law by smoking pot or hashish. We break the law with many other respectable young men and women such as accountants, guidance counsellors and teachers. We have been committing this crime for three years and are quite paranoic about it. You see, if we are busted, besides the fine or sentence, we would surely lose our jobs because we would not be fit to teach the nation's young.
Why do we take the chance?
The effect of the plant is delightful but I don't think that warrants taking such a risk. I believe partially I'm taking a stand. I believe in individual freedom as long as no harm comes to another human. I don't feel the government has the right to forbid me from smoking just as they have no
From a 19-year-old university student, male, who says it is time the government 'stopped protecting individuals from themselves':
..14,4}, experience of drugs? I've tried both grass and hash for roughly two years. I really enjoyed the high that I got and it got me off the drinking kick that every high school kid gets into. And now that I have begun to realize that life itself is the best kick possible, I have watered down my own smoking. But it's still fun to drink a few beers or smoke a few joints every now and then. If anything, I think marijuana has helped to slow me down and appreciate life through my senses instead of drinking myself into a fun thing at parties! I went to a Hallowe'en party last night sober and it was fun. Especially the costumes."
From a student nurse who says it is 'high time that a well qualified, dispassionate and objective commission review the drug question':
"I am a student nurse and although I do not smoke marihuana now (due to its legal hazards and my hopes for a career), prior to this time I smoked it for about 4 years. I suffered no harmful effects, either temporary or long-term, from its use and observed none in others, whom I know smoked it on a regular basis. I might add that some of these people were older (30-40 years) and engaged in various skilled professions. I found that, while under its influence, peoples' social behaviour did not degenerate into belligerence or numb stupor as it often does under alcohol, nor that their sexual inhibitions were in any way affected by it.
Personally, I found it made contemplation, constructive introspection, the fulfilling of creative potential (I was painting quite seriously at the time), and appreciation of subleties in music and art much easier due to heightened perceptions and increased sensitivity. I certainly disagree with those people who say it leads per se to apathy.
Granted, there will always be people who will abuse (i.e., overindulge in) any beneficial thing that comes along—by this I mean they will make the mistake of centering their life's activities around it—alcohol is a prime example of this. However, I feel that the majority of people have the good sense to use moderation. Prohibition tried to make the many suffer for the indiscretions of the few and I feel the present marihuana laws present a parallel. They are equally as unenforceable, I think. Over this issue in particular, I feel, young people have lost respect for law due to its hard-headed, antiquated and unreasonable approach to the matter.
I have sat in courtrooms here in this city and watched fresh-faced young people, charged with possession of marihuana, forming a part of the regular courtroom parade of prostitutes, petty criminals and hard-core drug addicts (those to whom heroin, for example, has become a way of life). I must say that the contrast is remarkable and I feel that if these young People, whose minds are still developing and whose educations are not yet completed, are put in jail at such a critical period, as their attitudes are still forming, will rapidly become cynical and disillusioned with a society which :nforces such a severe penalty for a (to them) non-existent crime.
I truly feel, from my experience, that the insights I gained with this, a very natural drug, have stayed with me and helped me to appreciate more freely the wonder of the universe and the sacredness of life. I think that if most (and/or even any) people can gain this from the use of marijuana then it certainly has a useful place in a society with as many problems both right to tell me with whom to sleep. Pierre E. Trudeau agrees with me 0/1
the latter point. It is like a strict parent compelling a child not to do something without proof of any danger to the child.
About the effect, that depends upon the environment. Usually ones paranoia never leaves so it is never as relaxing as it could be. One feels happy, giggly, hungry, sometimes friendly and other times alone. I can
bring myself down if I have to although I am aware that my sense of timing is off.
We have not increased the amount we smoke therefore I can not agree that it is addictive. During the summer we don't smoke because we are
usually travelling and it is not safe to carry it with you. We don't suffer any symptoms during that time.
We have never tried LSD or any other chemical substances, use few drugs, do not believe in sleeping pills or stimulants. Several of our friends
have used LSD frequently. We are afraid for our future children although I
think the chances are slim. My cousin has also used LSD. He's a psychiatrist and used it for medical research.
About the gossip that it leads to hard drugs—nonsense, the statistics are turned around to make it reach such a conclusion. It is most inaccurate. I
have never had the slightest desire to try harder stuff, sniff glue or banana peels.
I smoke in the same circumstances as people drink, at social gatherings, don't come home from school, grab a bottle or take a smoke. I can face life without it although I don't always want to. It is not a crutch to me.
I don't believe the law should make me into a subversive person. The law must try to keep up-to-date. Pot must be legalized and perhaps an age
limit of 16 should be imposed. You must become informed as to its effects so teenagers will know what they can and cannot do under the influence."
From a young man employed in the broadcasting industry:
"I have used drugs for these reasons: In the beginning, I was experimenting. I bought some marijuana, and forgot to ask how much you were supposed to smoke ... went home and smoked what I have come to realize
is about twice as much as is normally consumed, or five cigarettes thereof,
without looking up. At that time, I was living right beside the sea. I went
to the window after smoking the dope, noting as I went that there was an
unaccountable but very pleasant grin spreading across my visage, and looked out.
Before my very own eyes was a magnificent sight ... the Yachting school was having a course of instruction in sailing, and there was a race between about thirty little sailboats in progress, their sails colored like easter eggs, so bright in the beautiful sun. 'Easter Sails" I thought, and promptly went
outside to sit in the sun on the beach, and watch the miracle of wind play
its tricks on a group of fairly doubtful sailors, some of whom got pretty
wet in the proceedings, and a fantastic time was had by all, and (I felt) especially me.
That did it. From that day forth I was a drugfreak, and over the next
two years experimented with, enjoyed, and learned from, all the soft drugs on the market ... pot, hash, mescaline and acid."
spiritual (mental illness due to loss of faith, lack of contact with nature, etc.) and physical (overpopulation, pollution, etc.) as ours has in 1969. Anything which can help (especially the younger generation) to gain insights on how to solve these problems should be made use of, rather than be forbidden by law.
I think LSD holds the same potentials for individual self-development, but I feel that it should be government controlled to maintain purity. I believe many of the disastrous effects experienced by people are due to the impurities contained in the 'bath tub' varieties made by amateur chemists. I believe strychnine is found in some lots sold on the streets. I think there should be places where, after some psychological investigation as to fitness, people should be allowed to take it in pleasant surroundings with, perhaps, a psychiatrist available, if needed. The person should be allowed to have friends around him at this time. This, of course, is a hypothetical suggestion for the future—I offer it because a problem exists now. Publicity has aroused curiosity in many people who want now to take it themselves, and will, sooner or later, find a source. The trouble is that what they find may be so impure as to have catastrophic effects. Also, perhaps there are people who never should take it, due to severe psychic conflicts. But I do feel that the situation as it exists now will not be resolved simply by legal supression. I more than feel it, I know it. Since this is a more complex problem than marijuana (and hashish) I offer merely a suggestion.
However, in regards to marijuana, I think that time (a short time, too) and the growing number of people using it—both young and not-so-young, will make it mandatory that marijuana become legalized. The only question is—how many more people will have to suffer the stigma (and worse) of a criminal record before this ban is removed? Surely the search for truth and the wish to evolve is the natural prerogative of mankind and youth in particular."
From a university professor in Eastern Canada:
"I have enjoyed smoking marijuana and hashish several times, and I feel that if they are made legal, we have far more to gain than to lose. I think they can easily be incorporated with our way of life in Canada without eroding any but purely materialistic or exploitive values. Marijuana does not provide an escape from reality any more than alcohol, sex or a drive in the country: we know we cannot be high all the time; we enjoy taking a trip (in both senses of the word) and we remember it with pleasure, but we know that we have to come back home again and go to work, and continue our everyday life. I have so often heard the argument that pot or hashish lead to hard drugs. For the vast majority of pot smokers, this is rubbish. It is the argument that temperance societies use against alcohol: social drinking leads to alcoholism. I have never had the slightest desire to shoot anything into my arm, nor do I want to try speed in any of its forms. There will always be a few disturbed people in our world, and I don't think that laws should be made for that tiny minority.
What are the benefits of marijuana? Some people talk about a feeling of euphoria as though a state of bliss was somehow unnatural and depraved because they think it will lead to an escape from reality. Actually, the opposite is true: getting high lets you appreciate reality in much more of its complexity than you normally would. Music becomes unquestionably clearer when you are high, even quite complex music, from Bach to electronic productions—you perceive more than you ordinarily would and this perception is not lost afterward: it becomes part of you. Food—particularly good food—tastes better. Conversation, especially if you are with close friends, becomes more meaningful than the frivolous chit-chat of everyday communication. You get beneath surfaces and appearances and penetrate to a clearer vision of reality, because you realize that every word you say is important: words count: they're not the pastimes or instruments of manipulation. They explore and describe reality. And finally, love-making. Pot, as almost everyone knows, is not an aphrodisiac in the way alcohol is. It doesn't make you want to pounce on the person you happen to be next to. But if you are with someone you love, and you're both high and want to make love (and I must repeat that pot does not break down barriers you don't want broken down), making love on pot is a beautiful experience. Every sensual reaction is enlarged and prolonged, including of course the climax. You may say that this sounds like a floodgate of sensuality, but I must point out that pot does not reinforce sensuality to the detriment of the mind. If you want it to be an enrichment of intellectual experience, it will be. Habitual smokers are very correctly called 'heads', because pot helps you to reconcile emotions and intellect—you don't see them as contradictory but as partners. I am not saying that you can perform feats of intellect when high. For serious, concentrated thinking you need to be sober, but pot acts on your mind in somewhat the same fashion as inspiration touches a poet. He sees something illuminating; he dashes off a first impression and then comes back and works on it again in the cold light of dawn. That is what happens with pot, and I fmd I come back again to this idea of perception; pot helps you perceive the world and yourself, while allowing your mental faculties to investigate the ideas later. You don't black out or forget, as you do with large amounts of alcohol. It helps you reconcile an instinctive with a cerebral perception of the world if you want to.
I wrote to John Turner last winter deploring the persecution of young long-hairs by the police and the R.C.M.P. As many people have observed, this leads not to a lessening of pot and hash smoking, but to a disrespect for the police. I would like to see the force more respected, because, as we all know, police need public support and sympathy in order to perform efficiently. What sympathy can they expect when they disguise themselves as hippies in order to infiltrate and arrest them? Hippies are not communists circa 1947, and this police tactic only degrades the officer who undertakes it, as well as the force in general. The hippies feel that the R.C.M.P. is acting out of ignorance and fear; they believe that pot-smoking is good, and there is no reason why they should change their minds: they are working from experience, and R.C.M.P actions no matter how 'legal', spring from institutionalized paranoia.
I am not underestimating the temporary upheaval which legalizing marijuana and hashish might cause in certain sectors—police, puritans, all those who wish to force their own limits of freedom and pleasure on the country as a whole. I think we should have the right to choose for ourselves whether we want to smoke or not. I think we have far more to gain than to lose in legalizing pot and that in a few years, once people have tried and accepted them for what they are—neither instruments of destruc. tion, nor passports to paradise, but simply pleasurable adjuncts to eve life (and, I believe, a richer life)—we will see what a false problem the ryday whole thing was, and will, I hope, spend more of our energies and p
time and funds coping with more pressing problems facing mankinublic