WAR ON POT MAKES DRUG MORE PROFITABLE

Editor:

Regarding the article ("Local police getting tough on grow ops", March 27)
on RCMP marijuana grow operation busts.

Canadian tax dollars are being wasted on anti-drug strategies that only
make marijuana growing more profitable.

The drug war's distortion of basic supply and demand dynamics makes an
easily grown weed literally worth its weight in gold. With money
practically growing on trees, any operations destroyed will be replaced.

And let's not kid ourselves about protecting children. The thriving black
market has no controls for age, making it easier for teenagers to buy
illegal drugs than beer.

Politicians need to stop worrying about the message drug policy reform
sends to children and start thinking about the children themselves.

There are cost-effective alternatives to the failed drug war.

In Europe, the Netherlands has successfully reduced overall drug use by
replacing marijuana prohibition with regulation.

Separating the hard and soft drug markets and establishing age controls for
marijuana has proven more effective than zero tolerance.

As the most popular illicit drug in Canada, marijuana provides the black
market contacts that introduce users to drugs like heroin.

This "gateway" is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy.

Given that marijuana is arguably safer than legal alcohol, it makes no
sense to waste tax dollars on policies that finance organized crime groups
like the Hells Angels and facilitate the use of deadly hard drugs.

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A., The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation,
Washington, DC