WHY A LAW?

Re: Law's gone to pot,' Mindelle Jacobs, Nov. 14.

Mindelle Jacobs' article on a recent court case involving marijuana
and the forfeiture of property under the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act was informative. The article ends with a suggestion and
a question.

But until weed is legalized, surely we ought to make an effort to
enforce the law in a meaningful way.

Otherwise, why have a law at all? If we consider why there is a law
banning the possession and production of cannabis we find that there
is no single reason to support such a law.

The prohibition of cannabis in the last century was based on many
factors, none of which apply today. I would also like to question the
suggestion: "Surely we ought to make an effort to enforce the law in a
meaningful way."

No. If the law is unsupportable because it is based on invalid
premises then it becomes impossible to enforce it. To do so would be
to go against reason, which is exactly what we are doing.

The time has come for an open and honest debate on the legalization of
cannabis. The use of cannabis is not going to go away and the sooner
Canadians deal with the situation the better.

Fred Mallach

Victoria

(If there's a law on the books it should be enforced to the hilt.)