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6 The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday, January 1 , 2003 EDITORIALS M il LETTERS T H EO A K H L L Em i 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax; 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 337-5610 Grculation: 845-9742 IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher TERI CASAS Office Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief MARK DILLS Production Manager KELLY M ONTAGUE Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLU Photography Director STEVE CROZIER Circulation Director RO D JERRED Managing Editor THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Motrttand fnneng. PuUnfiing & OttrtUUrQ Ud. rttjd n AcVorxw, AlWun HMdtounor. trte rp 'a e H am , b a m M a rc o . Bany* Bay T>» vvk*. BoAon Entorprt*. Hrnmpecr. Quartan BuringKn Ptrt Burlnpon Stappng Nm» Cry PW rt. CoMruraodWaaQ* Comoc&n. East vorv Mara. Erin Ad*>cattvCcur«y Rome*. Etobtt** Gordon, ftamfcrouah Port. Ooroctwm tofcpgndortttdan TfW Pnro. ItrrWon RtMow. »Utrt» Bunnwi TKtnb. Kmp&n Thu V*<**. Lndary T T m MaVum [<«wnd( & Sun M dtardf'wOnginlinc W ro. MBon Canadian tfwrpon. Mllon S h e w * Nw» MnsKMQa Buarm TVnot. MsasauQi Ngas. >*anw Gutd*. N n m iW / w c ri Eft Banner firffxrrbertand News. Mom > W <Mnor. CttkvOe Beiwr. Qak»*a Soccang N*w». OWttnaa Hocfcty N*m OrtNa Today. OrfuwaVrtBjy.'Oirinosjn Port Pwry Tbs Week. CWo Sound Trtuw. Pamenfcn Otaarvpr PrtBtnroup Thtt Aw*. Pcton Court* Gurt*. Fkftronj HifflionMWau^an Ih r t Scatorou?) Mnor. Sto/frtoUtrtfca Trfcm Forww Vburg O y cf Guordon Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community g £ f l Newspapers Association YMCA O © lIB O N T t T T I > F LY * Jin&e Fu/Kt 'OMlffc \A A \xo TV ac A G^ O N im r r 1m « i sSSar jcrrzm nn { V a Canadian Community Newspapers Association | oak vllle g a lle rie s | S K Suburban Newspapers of America Owo*i//r ^htvtrds K)P BUS*WESS exCB.LEWC Tba Qafcrf* UHon and Dtanct R C A L E S T A T f B O AR D & ¥ fh ( is & s g g r raQs F iB tir I t B R AR Y Return to normalcy? If the terrorist assault on the United States made 2001 a year of infamy, could it be said 2002 will be recalled as the year things returned to " normal" ? Suicide attacks in the Middle East (and elsewhere) continued to be common occurrences as inno cent victims' blood was spilled, all in the name of a holy war. The environment once again came under attack from man as hor rendous forest fires gobbled up thousands of hectares and seas were blackened by leaking oil tankers. It was a year many big U.S. businesses, often accused of being run by greedy men in dark suits, was found to be run by, well, by greedy men in dark suits. This year, however, some of them were caught red-handed dip ping into the company till. Here in Canada our prime minis ter announced he had had enough and would be stepping down -- unfortunately not until February 2004 -- much to the delight of many Canadians (not to mention Paul Martin). Once again the federal govern ment found ways to waste taxpay ers' money (a billion-dollar gun registry), ignore the provinces' pleas for help (health care), make our ill-equipped armed forces per sonnel look foolish (sending them to the Afghanistan desert in easyto-see green uniforms) and contin ue to strain our relations with our American neighbours. The latter is a tad surprising since both leaders have much in common -- trouble with the English language and no significant opposition in sight. There were moments of great sadness (the friendly fire deaths of four brave Canadian soldiers) and joy (our men and women's hockey teams' triumphs at the Winter Olympics). Provincially, we said goodbye to Mike Harris and hello to Ernie Eves and were able to tell the difference. We saw the Tories do a double take on hydro deregulation and educa tion funding and found out how expensive it is to dine out at steak houses on the taxpayers' tab (right Mr. Jackson?). In Halton we were bugged by the West Nile Virus, saw the popularity of marijuana grow houses rise dra matically and were treated to a visit by Queen. All in all, just another typical year? L E T T E R S TO T H E E IIIT IIR M arii uana ^ le« al M y letter is in response to what I believe are utter falsehoods Terence Young has spread via his written word regarding marijuana (Letters to the Editor, Dec. 18). First of all, Mr. Young has obviously never suffered from any dreaded illness enough to have to choose a med ication such as marijuana. Mr. Young's " facts" are truly only a statement from this man himself, who believes he is representing his fellow Canadians. If this were truly his goal. Mr. Young would ask medical cannabis users or their loved ones to explain to him how and/or why it helps them. M y goal is education and full legalization. Marijuana does not lead to harder drugs. Most cannabis users started with alcohol and/or tobacco -- not cannabis. As a medical user (legal) I have actually been able to eliminate my medically-necessary utility of cocaine and heroin because of cannabis. I not longer require these lifethreatening drugs (unlike cannabis). Mr. Young is welcome to visit our Web site at www.themarijuanamission.com and read the marijuana rescheduling petition from 1988 that states emphatically that " those who choose marijuana for medical purposes receive no residual effect." M y future advice to Mr. Young, respect the fact that some people receive tremendous medical benefit from an illegal plant and that the choice is truly individual. Do your homework. I did. I will not stop fighting this issue until there is full legalization in Canada. Mr. Young needs to understand, I worked with young people in corrections for a lot of years and I don't want drugs on the street either. But where else does Mr. Young propose we purchase it safely and affordably? Put it in a store; put an age limit on it; make it safe and give the sick and dying Canadians who need it a source. ALISON MYRDEN FEDERAL MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXEMPTEE TH E MEDICAL MARIJUANA MISSION Samuel's gift prompts reader to reflect on downfalls of current health-care concept The following is an open letter to Prime Minister Jean Chretien and all ministers o f health. It was submitted to the Beaver fo r publication. This letter is inspired by the generosi ty of funds expressed by Mrs. Elizabeth Samuel on the occasion of her gift of an M R I machine to Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. A counselling agency, of which I was a board member and subsequently presi dent. was faced with tremendous cuts in funding by the province. Social workers were ingrained with the idea that anyone in need should receive help whether funds were available or not. We already had a waiting list of more than three months for counselling servic es. which were provided on a free basis of ability to pay. Many clients did not pay a cent. The waiting list was on a first come first serve basis, with some consid eration for emergency cases -- typical of the current universal health care concept. With fewer hours of service, our hourly cost would increase dramatically because of rent and equipment commitments. Allocating assistance funds available on a weekly basis left additional hours avail able if we could pay for the associated staff time. Otherwise, there would be par tial layoffs and the waiting list would get longer. It was finally agreed that those clients with the ability to pay the full cost would fill these hours. The end result was that, within a short time, the waiting list was greatly reduced, the major benefit being that people receiving treatment sooner were requiring much less counselling time. In turn, this provided improved health by reducing the stress factor in those peo ple's lives -- a considerable contribution to reduction of health care costs. It is a sad fact that the majority of waste in missed appointments is by those who do not have to pay. Canadians do not have one level of health care. Today it is permissible to pay extra for semi-private care in hospital and still more for a private room. Three levels of health care right there. You are well aware of other preferential treatment. It is morally, almost criminally, irre sponsible to have equipment standing idle for twice as long as it used to because of the misconception of univer sal coverage. Like many applications of this concept, it reduces the service to the lowest common denominator. Mrs. Samuel accepts the fact that hos pital funding will be available for eight hours per day and suggests the hospital be permitted, for an appropriate fee. to process people with the ability to pay in the otherwise unused time of the expen sive equipment. This would have the effect of greatly reducing the waiting list, and drastically lower the cost of each diagnostic procedure. It would then trans late into earlier and more effective treat ment, again at reduced cost of time, talent and suffering. It would make additional contributions to the hospital's operational costs. Those who could not afford to pay would, in fact, get treatment sooner under the present " universal" system. The system would be relieved of the cost of those who paid for the service, making funds more available for general purposes. Instead of adopting this posi tive approach to the most productive use of facilities, millions of health care dol lars have gone over the border to pay for diagnostics and treatment because of unacceptable waiting lists. The complete denial of this approach by the Romanow Report is beyond com prehension to anyone with a basic under standing of very fundamental financial costing principles and procedural effi ciency. FRANK WAYWELL WAYWELL ASSOCIATES LTD. Association challenges fragrance-free letter writer I am writing in response to a letter published Nov. 27, in the Oakville Beaver captioned Ijet' s make Halton fragrancefree, written by Heather Allsop. I would like to bring to your attention the Scented Products Education and Information Association of Canada (S P EIA C ). which is a broadly-based organization whose mandate is to disseminate information and provide public education about scented products. SP EIA C is committed to ensuring that scented products are not unjustly singled out as contributors to unhealthy work environments and adverse health conditions. In Ms. Allsop's letter, she alleges that "fragrances can be harmful to our health." However, the current scientific and medical data support the fact that when used as directed, fra grances and scented products are safe. It is important to note that fine fragrances, along with other scented personal care products, are regulated in Canada as cosmetics, which fall under the authority of the Cosmetic Regulations, under the Food and Drugs Act. The industry works closely with Health Canada to ensure the safety of all scented products. Scent-free policies in schools, government institutions and the workplace are controversial and are often implemented due to misinformation or a lack of information altogether. These policies should be based on sound medical research that yields credible, scientifically valid evidence that draws a clear link between the use of scented products and organic disease. A rush to judgment by individuals or special interest groups and sweeping bans unjustly impinges on the freedom of individuals to use scented products. Public policy should protect this freedom and individual behaviour should only be restricted when clearly necessary to protect endangered pub lic health. In addition, it is misleading to leave the impression that eliminating one potential source (i.e. scented products) will eliminate indoor air quality issues. S P E IA C supports and advocates the considerate use of scented products for personal expression and enjoyment. In a pamphlet entitled Enjoying your fragrance , SPEIA C pro motes staying within your " scent circle" when using person al fragrance. In addition, the attached information sheet has been developed for use within schools, workplaces and pub lic institutions to provide facts and perspective on the issue of scented products before a controversial scent-free policy is considered. We strongly encourage that your readers and staff review the information available from the SP EIA C Web site at www.scentedproducts.on.ca and consider the position adopt ed by Health Canada with respect to such initiatives. The S P EIA C Web site also contains information on various topics such as Scented Products and Public Policy, Aromatherapy and Handy Tips on Enjoying Your Fragrance in addition to two letters from Health Canada stating their position on this issue. We are requesting that this letter be published in order to inform your readers that scented products are in fact regu lated by Health Canada and are not "harmful to our health", as stated in Ms. Allsop's letter. I sincerely hope that your readers will visit the SPEIA C Web site to obtain a more balanced view regarding scented products and controversial " scent- free" initiatives. KATHLEEN ROWLAND COMMUNICATION CO-ORDINATOR SCENTED PRODUCTS EDUCATION AND INFORMATION ASSOCIATION OF CANADA The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St, Suite 206, Toronto, Ont. M5B 2M7 Phone (416) 340-1981 Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, that portion of adver tising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or dedlne. A wonderful community We truly do live in a wonderful community. On Dec. 20, the Oakville Beaver printed my letter regard ing the theft of my husband's scooter. While that letter was my way of releasing my disappointment and anger with the person(s) responsible, it brought totally unexpected offerings that I would like to publicly give thanks for. I want to thank Kathy Graham and the Rotary Senior Homes for the donation of a scooter for my husband. Needless to say he is thrilled. I also want to thank Merv Carr, of Medi-chair, and Sue Duncan for their generous offers of assistance. DOLLY CAISSIE Pud Don't Y ou ^ S A f A M Y ? By STEVE NEASE H o m ew o rkt& day, have any' N P T H INS? N O ,W A IT, I DO m -I have something IfoRYoUTQjjSN, W H A T ^ A NOTE FROM ` MYTEACH ER 'c ause I didn 't have m y HOME WORK DONE from Y E S T E R P A Y -