LIGHTEN UP ON POT

I am absolutely appalled by the Waterloo regional police's misguided
attempts to serve and protect our community from the dangers of our
world.

I am unappreciative of the region's policy on marijuana arrests. We
cannot expunge all evil by arresting our residents for marijuana
cultivation. Marijuana is not what ails society, and I am waiting
patiently and fighting diligently for our federal government to
recognize this and eliminate its prohibition from our laws.

Considering the prolonged fiscal crisis in which we find our
community, I find it alarming that the region is still determined to
arrest and prosecute people for marijuana-related charges.
Publicizing these high-profile arrests as heroic deeds merely creates
an irrational fear around this issue.

It is time for police to realize that their diligent efforts are
unnecessary in a legal climate that prefers to put harmful people
like murderers and robbers behind bars, leaving the mellower agents
in our community free.

Brenda Beatty

Waterloo