MARIJUANA: IT'S A SOCIAL PROBLEM

Re: Quesnel RCMP drug crack down continues, The Observer, April 12.
B.C.'s 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 such that
an easily grown weed is literally worth its weight in gold. Rather
than continue to subsidize organized crime, Canadian policymakers
should ignore the reefer madness hysteria of the U.S. government and
instead look to their own Senate for guidance.

In the words of Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, "Scientific evidence
overwhelmingly indicates 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, D.C.