DRUGS: RED TAPE WON'T PATCH GRASS

Dear Editor,

I somehow doubt that overwhelming innocent landlords with red tape
will win the war on marijuana [Drug lords tangled in red tape, Feb. 7
Opinion, Langley Advance].

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 to look 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, USA