VALUABLE RESOURCES WASTED IN THE FIGHT AGAINST MARIJUANA

In a recent letter from Frank Di Cesare I was taken to task for
suggesting that marijuana be legalized.

He believes a lot of us will end up with fried brains. He also seems
to believe-as do the people presently running the country-that the
solution is more jails and stiffer penalties.

This might cause a few small operators to quit but it won't bother the
big boys. If anything it will make the business more lucrative. We
have a precedent: The U.S. has more people incarcerated than any other
country in the world but their dope trade is flourishing. One only
need look at what happened in the U.S when they outlawed the use of
alcohol. It failed miserably, but not before the powerful crime
syndicates were born that exist to this today.

My brain is not so fried that I don't resent the billions of tax
dollars that are squandered on this exercise in futility which will
also ultimately fail.

Meanwhile Burnaby can't get the additional police officers they want
because there aren't enough people taking up the trade. The ones we
have are tied up busting grow-ops and testifying in court.

Russ Leach
Burnaby