MARIJUANA PROHIBITION A WASTE OF MONEY

Dear Editor:

So, some Liberal-friendly ad firms got a few million in inappropriate
funding. Big deal. When you compare that to the Liberal Government's
marijuana prohibition policy over the past 12 years, it seems like a door
prize by comparison.

Nine-hundred million dollars wasted annually on drug-law enforcement, plus
court costs, plus corrections, and you are talking almost $2 billion of
taxpayer's money wasted every year.

This doesn't include the immeasurable cost of having 600,000 Canadians with
criminal records, many of them unable to travel or maximize their earning
potential and generate tax revenue, which hurts the whole country's economy.

All this effort and cost, and more people are using and growing marijuana
than ever before. Not to mention the nearly $3 billion that a regulated
domestic cannabis market could generate in annual tax revenue. So, that
means Canadians are nearly $5 billion poorer every year because of Liberal
policies. I hope the Auditor General gets to examine that situation pretty
soon.

By not regulating the cannabis market, the Liberal government is
deliberately subsidizing organized crime to the tune of about $10 billion
every year, wasting billions in taxpayer funds, depriving Canadians of
billions more in tax revenue, endangering the safety of Canadians, and
making cannabis easier for kids to access than either alcohol or tobacco.

Having all that money floating around the black market helps cocaine and
gun dealers, and I am sure that the 'terrorists' are pleased about that.

If anyone can think of a bigger example of fiscal and social
irresponsibility in Canada, I'd love to hear it.

Russell Barth,

Ottawa, Ont.