KEEPING DRUGS ILLEGAL UNDERMINES AUTHORITY

To The Editor,

Re: Respect for authority has vanished, Quinn's Quips, July 22.

Respect for authority truly has vanished -- due in large part to drug
prohibition.

When the enforcement of absurd laws is given such high priority, it
undermines all the good work that police do.

Also, a police officer will get "suspension with pay" for a crime
that would have a civilian in jail for three years. How can anyone be
expected to obey the laws when the people we hire to enforce them
can't be trusted to obey them?

Something as heinous as molesting a child and ruining a whole
family's life will get you the same jail sentence as growing a few
pot plants in your backyard.

Is that "justice"?

We live in a drug culture that advertises booze, fast cars, fast
food, violent movies and video games and drugs of all kinds on TV.

Then we tell kids "say no to drugs."

They see right though this hypocrisy.

Taking the drug business out of the hands of teens and criminals and
putting it into the hands of responsible adults is socially
conservative. Generating tax revenue from that industry is fiscally
conservative, and using that money to teach kids why they should
avoid drugs is morally conservative.

By not legalizing and regulating drug production and sales, we
subsidize criminals, make drugs easier for kids to access than either
tobacco or alcohol, waste valuable police resources and deprive
ourselves of billions in annual tax revenue.

All of this serves to undermine respect for authority. If we want to
regain respect for authority, the authorities have to stop behaving
in absurd, contradictory and hypocritical ways.

Russell Barth,

medical marijuana licence holder,

Ottawa