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a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave stouffville on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot economist sunsuntribune saturday may 10 2003 editor in chief- debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director marketing new product development brenda larson advertising director 5 retail flyer sales nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gord paolucci letters to the editor stop decriminalization of pot a new plague is coming upon us no it isnt sars or west nile virus it is marijuana the propagandist would have us believe pot is an innocent and pleasurable diversion when in truth all the dangers to health and safety are being swept under the rug marijuana inhibits brain function endan gers fetal development arid puts drivers on the road whose blood level of intoxicants can not be measured with present technology furmenrio decriminalization of mari juana to save youth from criminal records eliminates a deterrent to turning cars into lethal weapons in tile harids of youth high on pot- 0z r all this seems to be happening withthe full knowledge and blessing of our federal liberal government -v- s the government must be aware thiscould further deteriorate our relationship vvith the united states and createvdfflculties in trade relations and border crossings 2 we are also told that to inake up for the decriminalization of possession of riiarijua- na more severe penalties will be soughffor trafficking why have such measures riot been in place already why this ploy to make us swallow a poison pill prime minister jean chretien save us from this plague please ralph garbe i unionville group helped limit porn viewing re cops want jail terms for child porn offenders april 27 a while i thoroughly enjoyed this article i must make one minor note my grassroots organization citizens for the protection of children did indeedlobby the ohio house of representatives and senate for tighter cyber porn laws as they applied to taxpayer- funded american public libraries however a distinction must be made between pornography which is legal to view in the us and child pornography which is riot our organization was effective in enacting a law that reduced state funding to libraries that would riot implement stringent internet- use guidelines for children and to those f libraries that staunchly but erroneously deemed the viewing of child pornography in libraries a first amendment right of free speech and unfettered access to all of patrons including children our success in ohio gained the attention of senator john mccain rarizona who invited my organization to waswngton dc in 1998 where we spoke to his subcprrimittee in favour of his bill to protect children from online predators this bill passed a year later grassroots organizations will always have a powerful impact on local and national gov ernment as long as their members are com mitted to the cause arid willing to spend lorig hours arid much outofpocket expenses doing research travelling and contacting those in positions of authority and power the most effective grassroots lobbying tar gets weak and ineffective laws by financially hurting industries and institutions that sup port the flagrant misuse of taxpayer money and the desensitizatipn and abuse of our most valuable resource our children julie andersen newmarket ly more quarantines the world health organization surely did overreact to the situation in toronto public health officials did not the raising of the red flag on the front pages of newspapers newscasts arid daily press briefings could very well be the reason only several hundred were infected rather than several thousand kudos and congratulations to doctors kassam basrur dcunha and young for their tireless work ronhendrlx markham kudos to local health officials chinese should support business re sharks and sars push panic buttons columhby debora kelly may i did public health officials in york region toronto and ontario cause undue anxiety arid panic in the community regarding the outbreak 0 severe acute respiratory syndrome absolutely not while it is true the common flu tobacco use and automobile accidents kill more canadian than sars a great deal of money is spent to educate the public on how to protect itself from these hazards if the public thought any less of the sever ity of the sars outbreak more people might not have taken quarantines seriously enough leading to more illness and certain- re chinese not supporting businesses let ter to the editor by frankvetere may 3 my son his wife two young children and i frequently eat at a large chinese buffetstyle restaurant at warden avenue and hwy 401 the food is excellent the price is right and the children love it we and perhaps a dozen or so other non- chinese customers tend to stick out a bit it is difficult to get a table at this restaurant especially on a saturday evening unless you make reservations there is usually a long lineup when we leave we thought it was time to go back last night and were quite surprised to see the restaurant was less than half full and there was no lineup when we left the dozen or so nonasian customers were there but not the chinese at least not in their usual numbers now is the time for the chinese commu- nity to rally around the flag the greater toronto area needs its support v robbertknapper markham judge lacked guts in porn case re cops want jail terms for child porn offenders april 27 much praise should go to police officers who search but and usually find criminals it is at this stage our unjust justice system fails miserably a recent example is the mea- ger house arrest sentence to a convicted child porn offender all of the excuses the presiding judge gave sound like so much sour grapes judges please acquire some guts never mind precedents that have little bearing on the case at hand and give us some justice that makes sense fred pombiere bradford yellow brick house big help last year i had no money and was unem ployed my son and i ended up at yellow brick house a york region shelter for abused women and children i want to acknowledge and thank the staff and volunteers of yellow brick house retas place and outreach services i cant imagine what would have hap pened to us had these services and living angels not been available the support and counselling we received and continue to receive have allowed us to begin rebuilding our lives you have given us hope guided us encouraged and supported us we are tiiankful for every one of you i also want to thank all the businesses and residents who generously donate money clothing food christmas gifts furniture and other items to these organizations please know every donation and every act of kindness touches someone deeply sandra mackenzie markham claiming sars patent worrisome a toronto newspaper recently reported canadian scientists are joining the rush to claim a sars gene patent it is occurrences like this that make me sad and afraid to be a canadian and part of the human race i hope bur scientists get the patent arid then allow free access to its information if not then im concerned sars will be kept alive in order to turn a profit david kates unionville letters policy the stouffville tribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the tribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space- letters to the editor the tribune 9 heritage rd markhamon l3p1m3 email lettcrscconsuncom editorial editor m mason newsroomeconsuncom advertising retail sales manager steve kane v skancymgcom sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews dandrewsyrngcom classified manager ann campbell acampbellymgcom real estate manager mikerogerson mrogersonymgcom production director of production john futhey jfutheyymgcom distribution distribution manager barry black bbiackymgcom administration office manager vivian oneil voneilymgcom york region events managing director debraweller dwelleryrngcom shows manager stacey allen sallenyrngcom york region printing general manager bob dean bdeanymgcom editorial 90529472200 fax2941538 advertising 2942200 classified 1-800- 7433353 fax 8534626 distribution 9052948244 bsaitfpic canadian ontario press circulations audit council soanjmember msuntnbune a york region newspaper group community newspaper the stoufmie tiibunc published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd a whollyowned subsidiary oftorstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community pubucatiorts across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving rocramrkl h9 arid trxmholvaughan citizen markham economist sun stouffville tribune stouffville sun gcorgma advocate york regkm business times at home good life yorkregtoacom and fax region printing ii- i i ill 3