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Monuments to hate
It's ironic that in calling for more historical context around Confederate monuments, Clifford Orwin gets the history wrong (Confederate statues need context, not shouting matches, Aug. 21). Confederate monuments were not put up as part of a "national reconciliation," as the professor says. Most were put up after 1900 as part of an effort to entrench white supremacy under Jim Crow.
As they stand, these statues only serve to perpetuate the harmful idea (repeated by Prof. Orwin in his column) that there was something "heroic" about the fight to preserve slavery – a fight that some groups are emboldened to continue today. Taking down these monuments to white supremacy isn't a surrender to the mob. It's a small step toward repairing our understanding of history, and acknowledging that people should have the right to expect to be safe from white supremacists in public places.
Noah Siskind Gitterman, Toronto
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Protecting pot users
I am a physician that has recently joined a clinic that prescribes medical marijuana. I have been impressed by the number of patients that are getting relief from the product (especially with high cannabidiol or CBD).
I had heard rumours of some companies using fungicides and insecticides, and that they had been shut down. Certainly, many of our patients, who had been using marijuana for years, were delighted when they found a legal (and what they thought safe) way to obtain their product.
Your recent article is very disturbing (Mysterious Symptoms And Medical Marijuana: Patients Are Looking For Answers, Aug. 21). Our medical history is filled with other examples that somehow slipped through the cracks. Thalidomide and Agent Orange come immediately to mind.
It would appear that some of the producers may be cutting corners.
I do not think it's excessive to see enforced and random checks of all suppliers, coupled with at least fines, if not loss of licence, for those found with any insecticide or fungicide levels in their product.
My patients are not a bunch of "pot heads." These people should have all the protection the rest of the public enjoys from proper government surveillance of our food and drugs.
Edgar R. Cowtan, Medicine Hat, Alta.
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Perhaps Minister of Health Jane Philpott should review the mission statement for her department. From its website, regarding drugs: "Health Canada plays an active role in ensuring that you have access to safe and effective drugs and health products."
It is disturbing that the chief executive officer of producer Organigram appears to have been absolved of responsibility for using banned pesticides by simply denying any knowledge that they were in his product. Health Canada had an easy solution to this situation; it should have pulled Organigram's licence to produce medical marijuana.
David Schonhoffer, Ottawa
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The article on the health effects of marijuana is interesting and necessary but completely misses the point. The medical marijuana industry is going way beyond current scientific evidence. Marijuana does not make you healthy. It makes you high. Smoking marijuana can cause both lung damage and anxiety attacks, completely aside from pesticide contamination.
Legalization is a reasonable public health measure, and closer attention to product safety is a reasonable goal. However, marijuana is not a health product. It should never be sold in pharmacies and it should come with a warning label similar to tobacco. The Cochrane organization's review of the published scientific data shows that aside from helping with symptoms of nausea, there is no good evidence to recommend marijuana for any health condition. A more recent review in the Annals of Internal Medicine confirms this.
A well-designed legal framework will help with quality control, but it won't make marijuana good for you.
Marc Greidanus, emergency physician, Chilliwack, B.C.
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Canadians by choice
Your article on extremism says a South Asian woman running in a Calgary school board election was asked, "What right do you have to run for office in CANADA" (Extremism Does Not Stop At The Border, Aug. 19)?
Several years after immigrating to Canada, I was asked that same question when I became involved in provincial and federal politics. I was told I "had just got off the boat and must leave politics to real Canadians." I replied that I had chosen to become Canadian; they hadn't. I also said I had asked to come to Canada and Canada had welcomed me because I met the relevant criteria. The person challenging me hadn't chosen to live in Canada, and Canada hadn't had a choice about accepting him. I hope the woman in Calgary is elected.
Roger Smith, Lantzville, B.C.
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Too lean of a ledge
The reason apartment balconies are largely unused is simple: They are almost universally too narrow (The Rise Of The Balcony, Aug. 16). They are built for effect, not function.
Balconies at least 2.5 metres (or eight feet) deep can be used for sitting, dining, gardening, even sleeping, rather than storage for bicycles and other items. Useless narrow outdoor balconies could be transformed into attractive, effective multiuse terraces by the addition of a few feet of inexpensive construction.
A. J. Diamond, Diamond Schmitt Architects, Toronto
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Raccoon defence
I had great sympathy for Sam and Michael in their attempts to defeat their nefarious raccoons (West Sod Story, Aug. 21). I went through the same frustrating experience some years back.
It was so maddening that I ended up having fantasies of me standing there in the middle of the night with a flame-thrower cackling manically as I created roasted critters. I did, however, come up with a solution that defeated the evil beasts, and in a way that is perfect for downtown Toronto-sized lawns: chicken wire. My wife and I covered the entire back lawn with chicken wire secured by tent pegs. It worked. And, importantly, you can mow over it, so we left it down for an entire year. Take that racoons.
Michael A. Gilbert, Toronto
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Seeding the lawn won't deter those furry things. I go out every morning and pat down the patches they have ripped up during the night. Nematodes? Forget it.
The new raccoon-proof green bins that Toronto has rolled out will just exacerbate the problem, making them even more likely to dig up lawns for their dinner.
Could raccoons somehow be included in the NAFTA talks along with dairy and softwood lumber? One-hundred-per-cent Canadian content, no tariff, free for the asking.
Helen Godfrey, Toronto