GOVERNMENT OVERSTEPS ITS BOUNDS

Dear Editor:

It is the fault of the U.S. that we have so many grow-ops in
Canada.

The U.S. consumes, and produces, more cannabis than any other country
in the world. They need so much they have to get about 41 per cent
shipped in from Mexico, and about two per cent from Canada. It is
their insatiable appetite for cannabis that is fuelling the grow-op
problem in Canada.

The U.S. market throws billions in untaxed dollars at Canadians, then
scorns us for supplying their demands. They give us no end of grief
about pot, beef, lumber, missile defence shields, Iraq, and gay
marriage, and then we are supposed to believe these bullies are
actually our friends? The responsibility for the misery caused by the
`drug war,' both in Canada and around the world, falls squarely on the
U.S.

Maybe we should threaten them with border slowdowns if they don't do
something to lower the U.S. demand for pot.

If Canada were to legalize and regulate the cannabis-growing market,
then licensed growers and sellers would have to account for every gram
they produce and sell on the domestic market. This would free up
police resources and give them much more power of investigation and
enforcement.

It would also generate billions in annual tax revenue, which means we
could actually afford to spend more on increased border security to
keep cannabis from going south, and guns and cocaine from coming north.

Do we blame the bar or liquor store for someone's alcohol problem, the
sporting goods store for sports injuries, or blame the food companies
for someone's obesity or diabetes?

Then why should we be blamed for supplying the U.S. with a substance
(pot) they just can't seem to get enough of?

Russell Barth

Ottawa, Ont.