PROHIBITION DOES MORE HARM THAN GOOD

Re: Drug traffickers missed the memo (The Daily Graphic, March 2)

The 2002 Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs after
years of research and hundreds of expert witnesses concluded
prohibition does more harm than good and recommended cannabis be
legalized and regulated. (www.senatereport.ca)

"In addition to being ineffective and costly, criminalization leads to
a series of harmful consequences: users are marginalized and exposed
in a discriminatory fashion to the risk of arrest and to the criminal
justice system; society sees organized crime enhance their power and
wealth by benefiting from prohibition; and governments see their
ability to conduct prevention of at-risk use diminished."

Legislating increased enforcement and mandatory minimum sentences
would be going in the opposite direction to what the Senate Committee
recommended. The Conservative's Bill C-15 would make Canada more
dangerous for all of us.

Paul DeFelice

Nelson, B.C.