I had to endure chronic debilitating pain for many years, along with the anxiety and depression that goes with it, because the medical profession had nothing to prescribe to me that worked to reduce the pain.

For the past two years, I have found my use of marijuana cooked in olive oil positively life saving, when combined with meditation and a healthier lifestyle. I also found I did not need to increase the dosage to get the same effects.

So I can support the legalization of pot.

However, I am opposed to it being marketed by the LCBO. Alcohol impairs judgment and motor skills and kills brain cells with heavy use. It also makes it harder for a person to control their sad or angry feelings.

Marijuana might increase these effects, so I would prefer to see it sold separately through a law-abiding drugstore, with a label warning not to drink alcohol when using this drug.

Cathy Allen, Toronto

It is demonstrably true that alcohol and tobacco are far more dangerous than cannabis, yet tobacco is sold at corner stores. I would argue that cannabis should be sold at LCBO outlets and pharmacies, and so should tobacco, as it is a highly addictive drug.

These outlets are used to asking for proof of age ID and handling other controlled substances. We have one chance to get this right.

Pharmacies stopped selling tobacco several years ago because of its negative health issues but now want to sell cannabis. Both or none, I say.

If corner stores can sell tobacco, then an argument could be made for them to sell cannabis. I doubt anyone thinks that is a good idea.

Kurt Crist, Consecon, Ont.

<extra_leading_107pt>I sincerely hope that Trudeau legalizes marijuana the same way he reformed the electoral system.

Yannick Grignon, Lindsay, Ont.

The inference from Ottawa is that cannabis should be grown and distributed through large monopolies, overseen by the province and municipalities — and that, somehow, small-scale operations are unsafe and presumably have ties to crime.

But what about the renaissance of micro breweries and distilleries that have been popping up all over Ontario and across Canada in recent years?

When I was growing up in the 1970s, no such phenomenon existed. Only big breweries and distilleries were allowed to make and sell booze. Now, the city is flooded with micro facilities.

But small-scale growers and distributors of marijuana are somehow not fit to participate and profit from this new cannabis renaissance. Please enlighten me on this negative bias.