Understand the risks of any drug

Re: Hello, marijuana. Bye-bye, codeine. It makes no sense — Sept. 13

This is no doubt a ripe subject to help explore government hypocrisy, but Luisa D’Amato’s column made a dangerous mistake in equating dependence on pot and codeine. Surely you’re familiar with the rampant abuse of painkillers, the fentanyl crisis, and how codeine is the first introduction to opiates for most addicts.

It’s disingenuous to only look at codeine treatment numbers, as many addicts simply opt to climb the ladder to a stronger opiate.

It might be uncomfortable to admit that codeine users are in the same boat as heroin or morphine users, but it’s essentially the same kind of drug, and the relationship and behaviours are well established.

A professional roadblock on the opiate highway will divert or at least identify a large number of potential addicts before they are exclusively shopping on the black market. If they are identified, they can hopefully be treated before they end up hooked, in the justice system, or worse.

Dependence on opiates often consumes the lives of all those affected, and can be deadly for the users. Death is also a risk if opiate withdrawal is not properly managed.

A restless night’s sleep is the most common consequence of going cold turkey on cannabis, and overdosing is so difficult it is nearly a physical impossibility. It’s no mystery to me why one should be more tightly controlled than the other.

People need to understand the risks to their health when using any drug, prescribed or not, illegal or not, but they tend to assume anything available over the counter is “safe.”

Codeine users should know they are standing atop a cliff that millions have fallen from; they might not see over the edge yet but it’s just a few steps away. Warren Karges Waterloo