TO LEGALIZE OR DECRIMINALIZE THAT IS THE QUESTION POLITICIANS PONDER

When It Comes To The Use Of Marijuana

Editor:

Is the RCMP telling the truth?

Constable Dean Gladue claims pot shouldn't be legalized because the
move would create social problems on a scale comparable to alcohol, a
legalized drug. (Local Police Respond To Critics of DARE...legalizing
pot not the answer, June 24).

Marijuana decriminalization is becoming the worldwide drug policy of
choice as more and more nations are amending or re-evaluating their
pot laws.

Government commissions in Canada, New Zealand and Jamaica are
currently pondering whether to remove criminal penalties for the
possession and use of the drug, a position already adopted by the
majority of countries in the European Union.

The current global trend is to move away from the American "do
drugs-do time" drug policy model, especially as it pertains to
marijuana.

The United States was recently voted off the International Narcotics
Control Board, a United Nations drug monitoring body, and replaced by
the Netherlands, a country known for its lenient marijuana policies.

Countries that have decriminalized or legalized marijuana have less
prisons, less crime, and less drug use by youth.

That is the truth!

Larry Seguin
Lisbon, NY