BLAME PROHIBITION

RE "Cops don't need warrants look at our hydro bills," by Alan Shanoff
(Nov. 28): 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 then farming tomatoes.

As it stands, the drug war distorts market forces such that big money
grows on little trees. Canadian policymakers should ignore the reefer
madness hysteria of the U.S. and instead look to their own Senate for
guidance.

In the words of Sen. 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

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

(Shanoff's said as much himself, but pot and tomatoes aren't quite the
same)