DECADES AFTER WOODSTOCK, THE POT DEBATE STILL RAGES

Cannabis prohibition has created the harms and dangers associated
with growing, selling and consuming marijuana. The Special Senate
Committee on Illegal Drugs declared in their 2002 report, Cannabis:
Our Position for a Canadian Public Policy that "the continued
prohibition of cannabis jeopardizes the health and well-being of
Canadians much more than does the substance itself."

Once people realize that the prohibition of cannabis is the root of
the dangers associated with it (unsafe grow-ops, uncontrolled sales
to underage buyers, gang turf wars, etc.) they will realize that drug
prohibition has failed to stop any drug-related problem.

In fact, it has made them worse.

I urge readers to ask themselves who benefits from prohibition? As
far as I can tell, those who benefit the most are criminal
organizations and police associations. How many more gang turf
shootings are needed before we try something different?

Jodie Emery, editor, Cannabis Culture Magazine, Vancouver.