BLAME THE U.S. FOR CANADIAN GROW OPS

It is the fault of the United States 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 that they have to get about 41 per cent
shipped in from Mexico, and about 2 per cent from Canada.

It is their insatiable appetite for cannabis that is fueling 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 defense
shields, Iraq and gay marriage, and then we are supposed to believe that
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 United States.

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 the food companies for obesity
or diabetes? Then why should we be blamed for supplying the U.S. with a
substance that they just can't seem to get enough of?

Russell Barth

Educators For Sensible Drug Policy

Ottawa