PASSING THE BUCK ON POT

Dear Editor:

Re: Pot laws are federal issue, Letters to the editor, Burnaby NOW, Sept. 20.

Coun. Garth Evans correctly points out that the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act, the law that prohibits cannabis, is in fact a federal law.

However, the federal government has been playing games with cannabis
for more than 30 years since the Le Dain Commission.

The law may be made federally, but the municipalities are the ones
that have to enforce it.

The three levels of bureaucracy leave an endless maze in which to
hide or pass the buck around in. The city councillors and MLAs say
it's federal; the MPs are too afraid to offend the U.S.A., and now
the courts have struck down and reinstated the CDSA.

Cannabis is not going away, no matter how many 'green teams' Burnaby
hires. It is a waste of taxpayer money. Cannabis itself was made
illegal, with no debate, during racist times. So far, 30-plus years
of trying to change this has been met with the most resistance by the
police lobby.

The people of Canada and the world deserve to be treated like adults
when it comes to cannabis. Waging an eternal war against a plant with
taxpayer dollars accomplishes nothing but wasting money, undermining
privacy, increasing levels of violence and decreasing respect for
authority and the rule of law.

Mr. Evans supposes that there are at least 800 cannabis growing
houses in Burnaby.

The real number is likely far higher.

First, how does he know this? Authorities are now basing their
suspicions upon your electrical records, the police now spy on the
citizenry by way of their electrical usage.

One more privacy now a victim of society's misguided quest to ensure
people are not getting high, the global war on some drugs.

Let us suppose that is true. How many can the police take down in one
day and how many officers does it require? Even if they could do two
per day, they could not get them all in a year.

They are simply wasting their time and your money subsidizing the
ones they can't get by increasing the value.

Instead of allocating scarce resources to chasing their own tail, the
police must have more pressing problems.

Mr. Evans claims that the people running grow ops are violent and
dangerous yet cites no example.

If grow houses were so troublesome, why do we not hear about all the
supposed violence associated with them?

The only time I hear about violence and cannabis grows is either when
police attend or when 'grow-rippers' break in. Nobody else generally
interferes with these people.

Ceding the huge unregulated market to criminals by way of drug
prohibition only ensures the continued presence of organized crime groups.

Mr. Evans believes the solution is to hire more police. The police
believe that we need harsher penalties, but the people obviously want
the cannabis.

I believe that the current crackdown on cannabis is happening at
behest of the U.S.A., and all those on this side of the border who
support it are not representing the people but protecting the profits
of large corporations.

Ripping down grow shows is make-work for police. Killing plants is
not 'protecting the community,' but it sure represents light work and
job security.

Colin Walker

New Westminster