DO AWAY WITH POT-COCAINE TRADE MYTH

Re: OPP survey yields $6.5 million crop

The article states marijuana can be traded pound for pound for
cocaine on the U.S. drug market.

Just recently, the RCMP admitted that this was an urban myth and
could not verify that pot was being traded pound for pound with
cocaine. The notion is absurd anyway, as cocaine is far more
expensive than pot.

But then, almost everything police have said about marijuana has been
an exaggeration for decades.

What they don't tell the public is that when they tear out a bunch of
pot plants, the ones they don't catch become that much more valuable.
By stopping a handful of growers every year police are not only
wasting time and taxpayers' money, they are also helping the other
growers out in a big way.

Not only that, these reports make more people realize that there is a
very small chance of getting caught, and that there is a ton of cash
to be made, so that will make even more people start growing next
year. This will make the cops holler for more money and more
officers, to do the same thing next year. And so on.

If we really wanted to stop this expensive, ineffective, gang-subsidy
program, we would regulate marijuana as we do with alcohol. The fact
that the government and police refuse to even discuss regulation
leads me to wonder exactly who or what they are trying to protect.

Russell Barth

Federal Medical Marijuana Licence Holder