LEGALIZING POT MAKES REAL SENSE

(Re: 'No warrants needed for power bills' in the Nov. 29 edition of the
Examiner)

Regarding Alan Shanoff's column, hazardous marijuana grow operations
are a direct result of marijuana prohibition. Legitimate farmers do
not steal electricity to grow produce in the basements of rented
homes. If legal, growing marijuana would be less profitable than
farming tomatoes.

As it stands, the drug war distorts market forces so that big money
grows on little trees.

Canadian policymakers should ignore the reefer madness hysteria of the
United States government and instead look to their own Senate for guidance.

In the words of Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, "Scientific evidence
overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful
than alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a
social and public health issue."

Robert Sharpe

Washington, DC