FUTILITY OF PROHIBITION

Editor,

Re: RCMP seizes thousands of marijuana plants from outdoor grow ops,
October 21, 2009

So what if the Kootenay Boundary Regional Detachment of the RCMP
seized 14,130 marijuana plants from 88 sites throughout the region?

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.

Trail Mayor Dieter Bogs is wrong if he really thinks "the money is
kept out of the drug dealers' pockets." Law enforcement efforts are
not stopping the "outdoor grow ops", 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 any evidence that these eradication efforts actually
reduce the availability of marijuana on the street?

2) What percentage of the outdoor crops are the RCMP 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 )

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
interests.

Herb Couch

Nelson, B.C.