MAKE MARIJUANA LEGAL AND TAX IT

Letter to the editor:

Re: Fantino urges stiff penalties; OPP commissioner speaks out on drug crime
(Packet & Times, May 10)

I believe Fantino to be incorrect.

Stiffer penalties have been used in the U.S. since the "War on Drugs"
began. The only accomplishment of this feat was to incarcerate one per
cent of their population.

The U.S., with less than one-third the population, has more people in
prison than China (a communist country).

The U.S. builds more prisons than schools. Is this what you want for
Canada?

(The average cost to taxpayers for housing one prisoner is $150 per
day).

The solution to this problem is to end the prohibition on all drugs
and get the government to regulate them, like they successfully did
alcohol in 1933 to end gang crimes and violence.

It's harder for kids to get cigarettes and alcohol than
drugs.

This alone should tell you to get the drugs of out of criminal hands
and into a regulatory division of government control.

Not only would Canadians save money, the government could then make
money on taxing these drugs.

Apparently, marijuana alone is a $7 billion a year industry in Canada.
That's a ton of tax dollars lost.

Educate not incarcerate.

James Kerr, multiple sclerosis sufferer, Medical marijuana exemptee

Meaford