POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM?

Editor:

Ontario PC Party leader John Tory's recent call for a marijuana
grow-op registry is well intentioned, but wrong-headed, and strikes
of political opportunism.

Is talk of cracking down on pot simply another empty political
gesture to the social conservatives? If you believe the polls, most
Canadians want legalization and regulation of marijuana like alcohol,
but yet all we hear are more stories about "dangerous" apartment
marijuana grow-ops. Funny, orchid growers and other plant growers use
the same equipment as marijuana growers and we have yet to hear of
the "scourge" of indoor cucumbers from the press and police PR flacks.

If Tory does create this greenhouse list, what about the interests of
medical marijuana patients? If they have a legal grow-op on their
property, does their house go into the registry? What will this do to
the property value of a terminally ill person who uses marijuana, but
also wants to try an experimental, expensive, uninsured treatment?

Will a bank grant a mortgage if there is a grow-op, legal or not,
under the roof?

I know of some very ill people who grow marijuana in their own homes
and rarely have mould or other problems. Fungus issues arise purely
because of poor air circulation due to acts of concealment, thanks to
regular police advocacy against marijuana growing, and egged on by the press.

Marijuana was made illegal based on racist lies in the 1920s. Any
attempt by any politician or law enforcement official to create a
moral panic out of this situation should be seen for what it is:
propaganda calculated as a distraction from other, more pressing
issues. Like the notion of a general prohibition solving any problem
throughout history, for example.

Tim Meehan

National Capital Reformers

Ottawa, ON.