Kudos to Star columnist Dalton Camp for his July 12 denunciation of
the mythology and political cowardice surrounding the marijuana issue.
I would like to emphasize his last recommendation, "We should
demythologize and legalize the stuff."

In my opinion, decriminalization is not nearly enough -- just more
moral cowardice. In cleaning up this issue once and for all, we must
go all the way to legalization.

We must turn the growing, preparation and sale of marijuana into jobs
-- income-creation vehicles that can be taxed. Anything less
reinforces the existing structure -- the transfer of money to highly
organized and opportunistic criminals.

We have to divert the flow of money from gangs to governments, and in
so doing, create many thousands of legitimate jobs.

The savings achieved could be enormous: significant budget cuts in
law-enforcement and penal services, plus a whole new tax base for
future revenues. It's hard to listen to the budget-slashers when they
so insistently refuse such an obvious revenue source.

ARTHUR FULLER
Toronto