THE INCALCULABLE EFFECT OF DRUGS

It was reported on these pages that a significant drug bust took place
in Brighton ("Drug seizure in Brighton", Oct. 6). Actually, according
to the article, the bust took place on a street corner in Brighton in
broad daylight at 2:40 p. m. Oct. 1.

Furthermore, something called the "Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau
- -Drug Enforcement Section" (which, given the their fondness for
unnecessarily complicated squad names, makes me think the bust must've
been carried out by the OPP) says the amount of drugs seized were
valued at "$50,480".

The massive haul included three ounces of "suspected" marijuana, "some
plants" and ".1.25" (sic) pounds of "suspected" dried marijuana.

Fifty-thousand, four-hundred and eighty dollars.

I asked a friend how much an ounce of pot sells for nowadays and,
between his fourth and fifth Hershey's Peanut Butter Cup, he giggled,
"Around two hundred, man. Heh-heh-heh Yeah around, like
heh-heh-heh."

Ergo (a word my friend seems oddly fond of by the way), the three
"suspected" ounces of pot seized in Brighton would have a total street
value of around, hehheh-heh, $600.

The "some plants" part is hard to determine, but the article did say
the transaction was "hand-to-hand" not "twotonne round
bale-to-twotonne round bale" and it did take place on a street corner
in the middle of the afternoon. Ergo, at the max, how much could it
have been?

Oh, yes. The ".1.25" pounds of "suspected dried marijuana". Well,
assuming that means a pound and a quarter, not 125 pounds (again,
we're on a street corner here), the value of that, at $200 an ounce
would be, let's see, about $4,000.

So, what we have is maybe $4,600 worth of pot and "some plants".
Maybe.

But, somehow what the "Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau -Drug
Enforcement Section" of some unnamed police force wants us to believe
is that $50,480 worth of pot changed hands in broad daylight on a
Brighton street corner and thank God for all of us that they just
happened to be there to put another dent, however small, in the ever
burgeoning drug trade threatening us all.

It kind of makes me wonder what they're smoking.

Dan Christie

Port Hope