POLICIES AID POT-GROWING CRIMINALS

Thanks for letting the cat out of the bag in your editorial Tragedy no time
to rewrite laws (SP, March 5). Of course "legalizing and controlling the
production, distribution and use of marijuana" would end criminal involvement.

We have only to compare it with tobacco: Both can be grown easily in
Saskatchewan, but in spite of the high taxes on tobacco you don't often see
people growing their own. Governments have refrained from making it
illegal; effective, isn't it?

Although marijuana use dates from at least 2700 B.C., it only became a
problem 50 years ago when it was mistakenly classified, along with LSD and
heroin, as addictive. This was refuted by the LeDain report in the 1970s
and more recently in the Senate report. Both showed the government of the
day the right way to go, and both were ignored.

Making marijuana use illegal is the cause of the problem, not the solution.
First, it bestows on marijuana an undeserved aura of "cool" -- the kind of
publicity that cannot be bought. Second, it drives up the price to
astronomical levels, setting the stage for a takeover by organized crime.

Dealers are able to pass on to the taxpayers the costs of promotion and
supply management; they use Ottawa as their advertising agency, and the
police as their means of limiting production.

There can be no doubt that the current policy is wrong, and that persisting
with it will cause the illegal trade to expand in proportion to the efforts
made to curb it. Your editorial showed you've got the message. Let us hope
some government politicians do the same.

Geoff Galloway

Saskatoon