POT JUST MAY BE LEGAL NOW

Editor:

Thanks to the blessing of computer networks, I read Jim Harrison's column
in the Aug. 7 edition of KTW ('Why do you think they call it dope?').

For readers who may have missed it, Harrison complained of pot-purveying
crooks with ad hominem fervor, and advocated prison time for a particularly
outspoken and articulate "law-breaking dope smoker" known as B.C. Marijuana
Party Leader and cannabis seed seller Marc Emery.

Interestingly, there is a strenuous debate carefully avoided by mainstream
newspapers, television and radio about the idea that restraints in the
cannabis trade may not be lawful on either side of the border.

As the argument goes, since Parliament only legislates, and courts only
abrogate, the 2003 decision by Ontario Superior Court Justice Steven Rogin
to uphold the lower court ruling by provincial court judge Phillips that
Canada's cannabis laws no longer exist might ultimately prove to mean that
marijuana is technically legal within your boundaries.

Jose Melendez

Deland, Fla.