Few sources link rage
with use of marijuana

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Tuesday's front page story on the student run-in at Universidad de Costa Rica made the claim that ". . . Some students were fueling their rage with marijuana."

As a health professional with 35 years experience in substance use treatment and research, I am surprised by this claim. I checked the Library of Medicine's archives just to refresh my memory on this subject, and confirmed that there is at best a tenuous link between aggression and marijuana in the scientific literature, and that the few articles to discuss such a link were written, for the most part, decades ago, when little was known about the effects of marijuana.

Now, as to the incident itself, rage is far from the only feeling expressed at large gatherings, even when the original situation might result from anger. I suggest that many participants were there to "have a party." The fact that so few participants were arrested or injured enough to require medical treatment supports this.

I believe that your reporters were editorializing, and allowed a bias against marijuana to distort their view of the facts.


Bemused by statement

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

As a long-time reader of A.M. Costa Rica and frequent visitor to your country, I was bemused to read in yesterdays article about the student protest that "Some students were fueling their rage with marijuana." Really???  I was not aware that marijuana "fueled rage."
Maybe your journalist should do some better research; either scientifically or personally.

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Attack on university
authorized by officials

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

I am deeply saddened to see this type of response from your company. I would like to state my feelings.

“Some students were fueling their rage with marijuana. A short time later they went to the traffic circle at Mall San Pedro and one called the . . . ”

This statement was wrong to include in the story. First, marijuana does not fuel rage. Second, you are accusing and labeling people without just facts. Accusing “some students” of illegal activity does not justify or give the right to what the police did as this statement intends to do.

Why was there not anything said about who organized this attack on the university by the police? Who let this get so far out of hand on the government side. Whoever was the one who authorized this attack should lose his job immediately.  This was a flagrant abuse of power. Might is not right!

I believe your writers, Manuel Avendaño Arce and Saray Ramírez Vindas of the A.M. Costa Rica staff should retract this statement and apologize to the students and staff of the university. Writers should not be judgmental or should your paper allow such attitudes to project any opinion.

Also, when one is defending their rights, as the students did, they should not be labeled as “rowdy” And, it was not only the students that were protesting it was the university staff and security. A sovereign institute was attacked and you only site the defenders as being wrong.

I must say I was very disappointed when I read this article.  It is obvious that I don’t write well or express my ideas clearly, but even I can see and say that this was a bias view.