POT: THE GATEWAY TO POLITICAL SUCCESS

Re: Ignatieff's Gateway To The Status Quo, Chris Selley, Jan. 22.

Voting patterns in the United States show a much greater turnout for
ballot initiatives -- be they local or state -- involving marijuana.
Part of the reason the GOP won a Senate seat in Massachusetts is
because Martha Coakley, the Democrat, was working to undermine a state
marijuana decriminalization law and the left saw no reason to turn out
to support her. In Michigan, the medical cannabis referendum got 10%
more yes votes than Barack Obama.

Perhaps that explains the flippant and evasive dismissals of marijuana
regulation by both Mr. Obama and Michael Ignatieff. A colleague
explained it to me: Marijuana is more popular than any politician.
That's why they hate it so much. And while Obama's popularity is
shrinking marijuana is more popular now. The reason? Good marijuana
doesn't lie.

T.J. Meehan, Kingston, Ont.