DECRIMINALIZATION WOULD SOLVE MANY PROBLEMS

Re: 'Pot growers, sellers are breaking the law' (Daily News, Jan. 2)

If Susan Schleppe would visit the group Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition website (http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php) she would see
information regarding the great cost of maintaining
prohibition.

Drug use does not cause crime, prohibition does. Prohibition empowers
criminals and results in violence that puts our way of life at risk.
Jailing citizens for possession or trafficking in drugs exacerbates
the problem as we send them to a training ground for criminals. Great
costs are incurred in maintaining the prison system and losing the
productivity of those we criminalize.

Marijuana is an ancient medicinal plant (not a drug manufactured in a
lab) that has been used for thousands of years. It is widely used in
this country for medicinal purposes, allowing persons with various
ailments to live the best life they can.

Health Canada's licensing of medical marijuana is difficult for many
to obtain. Only a few ailments are recognized for approval by a GP,
and it becomes more difficult to qualify when a specialist is needed.
Many of our citizens don't have a doctor and others do not have the
established relationship with their doctor that is required to apply
for the program.

The legalization of marijuana would remove this profitable business
from the hands of organized crime. Our society would no longer have to
pay the costs of enforcement, and instead, could profit from taxation
from regulated sales.

We would no longer criminalize citizens for medical or recreational
use of this plant. To brand someone as a criminal increases the
likelihood that they will commit other crimes.

Glenda Allard Barr

Lantzville