CANADA SHOULD DROP ITS POT LAWS

Re: Up In Smoke, Philip Slayton, July 27.

Thank you for printing a very well written excerpt of Philip Slayton's
essay. At the end of the excerpt, he asks, "Just how much freedom does
Canada have to diverge from the United States on important matters of
public policy?"

Well, one would hope that -- given the way the United States
hypocritically threatens us on a constant basis about cannabis
legalization yet violates our trade treaties with impunity (softwood
etc.) -- we would decide our own policy according to what Canadian
citizens would prefer.

Since the majority of Canadians favours legalization in every poll, we
should legalize cannabis and start reaping the benefits instead of
allowing criminals to profit from it. After all, if we are going to
kowtow to Americans with regards to laws we wish to repeal under our
own sovereignty, shouldn't we just join them? Why bother having our
own country if we ignore the wishes of our own citizens and instead
listen to rhetoric and threats about drug legalization that have been
proven wrong by decades of study?

Please Canada, listen to Canadians.

William Bradley, Kitchener, Ont.