Weed is messing with your head
Elianna Lev’s perceptive article (NOW, September 22-28) points to the two difficulties in determining a safe age for the legal consumption of pot: variations in the potency of the pot and variations in the sensitivity of the individuals smoking it.
My own experience at age 16 was a nightmarish one-way trip that started with some hash smoked with lumberjack-jacket-wearing Who fans at the CNE and took me a year to get over. I must be on the sensitive spectrum, since even the smell of pot during that period re-triggered the experience. Consequently, I avoided parks and pretty much people.
I took it as progress that I’d healed myself when I actually attended my graduation. (For all I know, what I took was highly potent or laced with PCP or some mystery drug). Colorado and Washington have it right with a legal age of 21. Let’s give those formative brains a chance not to get derailed early, and open up the discussion even further about the variables involved in marijuana legalization.
Name withheld upon request, Toronto
Not-so-suite life in St. Lawrence
No surprise your Suite Life section (NOW, September 22-28) is sandwiched in between paid condo ads. The question is why you feel you have to give free coverage to wealthy developers with questionable projects. Case in point, the St. Lawrence, which was fought bitterly by the community all the way up to the Ontario Municipal Board because it is a gratuitous eyesore, completely out of touch with what’s left of this historical area. Developers rule the city – we get it. But does NOW have to go along with it so blatantly?
Sam McLelland, Toronto
U.S. just as responsible for Libya debacle
Re Canada’s Big Libya Lie, by Scott Taylor (NOW, September 22-28). Hillary Clinton is just as responsible for the destruction of Libya. She, with the prodding of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, wanted Gaddafi’s head. The mainstream media gives Clinton a pass. Now Europe pays for her sin.
Guy Baker, From nowtoronto.com
A zero-waste concept whose time has come
Who’s Going To Be Toronto’s First Zero-Waste Grocer, by Adria Vasil (NOW, September 21).
I visited Eco Loco in Montreal last week. Excellent concept. It will definitely catch on. The store was jam-packed. They offer a choice of reusable glass bottles or cotton bulk bags for those who have not brought their own. I also liked that they had pre-made breakfasts in bottles – granola, dried fruit and nut combos, oats, grains, etc – to grab and go.
Judy Lazar, From nowtoronto.com
Still with the talk radio BS six years later
After reading David Gray-Donald’s The Trouble With Twitter (NOW, September 8-14), I recalled my time several years ago working as a deliveryman and listening to a lot of talk radio. Jerry Agar and Karen Gordon were mocking media coverage of Ted Kennedy, who’d died a year earlier, when a caller referred to the murders of JFK and RFK and Joe Jr.’s plane lost in the Second World War as “two splats and a splash.”
CFRB program director Mike Bendixen called it a joke when I contacted the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council to complain. Six years later, Agar is still getting paid for his BS.
George Arly, Toronto
Bloor bike lanes set up to fail
As someone who lives off Bloor, I must say I love the new bike lanes (NOW, September 8-14).
But I don’t think the city wants them to survive. Otherwise, they would not have done such a half-assed job.
Where one can park is not at all clearly marked, so some drivers get behind one of the parked cars and then find out those cars aren’t moving. Why not draw a big green “P” to mark them clearly?
Also, making a right turn is a dangerous nightmare for bikers and cars at Bedford, St. George and Spadina. The bikers go speeding by in their designated lane, while cars need to wait until the lights turn and pedestrians finish crossing in order to make their turn.
If the city is serious about installing bike lanes, they must do a better job. They shouldn’t bother with the experiment and then say it didn’t work.
Helen Zukerman, Toronto
Ontario Place magic worth preserving
After its fifth summer in lock-up mode, Ontario Place had a special opening of the In/Future Festival (NOW, September 15-21) that was a real out-of-the-past blast. Big kudos to Layne Hinton and Rui Pimenta of Art Spin for their great insight and courage.
Relaxing at the fest on a warm late summer afternoon watching the sun go down across Humber Bay, I thought about how John Tory had so ludicrously dared in 2012 to suggest the West Island be turned over to condo development, ostensibly to help fund the makeover of the rest of Ontario Place. These days Tory believes he can find a billion taxpayer bucks straight-up to build the mammoth Rail Deck Park.
I’m a big green spaces fan, especially for what is fast becoming Toronto’s condo-cluttered downtown, so sincere good luck to the mayor on this “legacy” project. My main concern is that in the revitalization process, the West Island’s magic may somehow disappear in an unintended vanishing act. A light touch is most needed for this little gem, but after viewing the proposed plan, I fear a heavier-handed approach might be about to descend upon it.
Robert McBride, Thornhill
