RCMP MARIJUANA SEIZURES WON'T STOP ILLEGAL ACTIVITY

Editor,

Re: Grow-ops busted in West Kootenay / Boundary amounts to 11,500 pounds

So what if "the RCMP's Kootenay Boundary Regional Detachment
investigation section led intensive investigations into outdoor
marijuana grow operations, resulting in the seizure of 14,130 plants
from 88 sites across the West Kootenay / Boundary areas."

What difference will it make?

Last year's RCMP harvest didn't stop this year's crop and this year's
RCMP harvest won't stop next year's crop. The recent outdoor
"marijuana eradication" efforts by the RCMP are glaring examples of
the futility of prohibition.

Law enforcement efforts are not "stemming the tide" (or "taking a bite
out") of drugs, nor will they ever do so. It is all just an expensive
show at taxpayer expense to give the public the illusion that
something is being accomplished.

Why aren't journalists asking important questions, like: 1) Is there
evidence that these eradication efforts actually reduce the
availability of marijuana on the street? 2) What percentage of the
outdoor crops are police able to destroy? 3) How much do these annual
eradication efforts cost? (diverted police resources, overtime pay,
helicopter use and fuel)

Taxpayers have a right to know the answers to these questions. This
futile and expensive ritual will continue, year after year, until we
finally come to our senses and end cannabis prohibition.

Every major study on the cannabis issue has come to the same key conclusion
as the 2002 Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs: "The continued
prohibition of cannabis jeopardizes the health and well-being of Canadians
much more than does the substance itself." (Cannabis: Our Position for a
Canadian Public Policy, 2002 - www.senatereport.ca .

The RCMP needs to learn that pot prohibition only supports organized
crime. Every day that we delay the end of this corrupting, harmful
policy, the deeper the tentacles of organized crime infiltrate into
our communities!

Ending cannabis prohibition is definitely in our best interest.

Herb Couch

Nelson, B.C.