Lots of questions

Re: “Canada doesn’t need to be a nation of potheads,” Naomi Lakritz, Opinion, Jan. 10.

This was a well-written and important column. As a grandparent, I’m concerned that, with all the media coverage about the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and other U.S. states, our young people will conclude there’s nothing wrong with smoking marijuana.

Since our federal government allows doctors to prescribe marijuana, it must be OK, right? Wrong!

Those who want to better understand what we know and don’t know about this substance should check out the CBC website for a regular radio program, White Coats, Black Art. It covers medical issues and the moderator is Dr. Brian Goldman.

He had an illuminating program about medical marijuana and interviewed several notables, including the head of the Canadian Medical Association and Dr. Laurie Montgomery, medical director of the Chronic Pain Centre in Calgary.

He also had an interesting interview with a doctor in rural Ontario who wrote over 4,000 prescriptions for “medical” mari- juana for which he charged from $100 (if done in his office) to $250 (if done in a local motel). He is under investigation.

Goldman concludes by saying that “we know little about the safety and efficacy of marijuana.”

Al King, Calgary