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LETTER: Sources in cannabis cultivation story could be better balanced

A reader responds to part of Black Press Media’s special series on cannabis agriculture in B.C.
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Editor:

Re: ‘Growing B.C. bud in the era of legalization,’ Sept. 6.

It is good to see Peace Arch News taking the initiative and running a three-part series on cannabis.

However, the credibility of both pro- and anti-commentators was hardly balanced and journalist Nick Laba should caution against that.

A professor from UBC was quoted regarding the lack of facts surrounding any loss of food production locally. His arguments were legitimate and backed by evidence.

Unfortunately, the opposite person from Maple Ridge made numerous unsubstantiated errors in his comments, including that the majority of legal cultivators are non-compliant because of odour.

That is not the case according to Health Canada, which has inspected and approved every facility across the country.

Furthermore, to claim that cannabis is a narcotic is false. Cannabis is not an opiate and there is no lethal dose for it which is the reason why no one has ever died from taking it.

If there is to be valid debate, then the discussion points must be both factual and free from hysteria and hyperbole.

David Hutchinson, Surrey

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