STRICTER POT LAWS WILL BRING MORE SENSELESS VIOLENCE

Anyone who thinks that the death of four Mounties near Mayerthorpe isn't a
reason to take steps towards legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana has
their head in a certain malodorous place.

Conservatives say the way to solve this problem would be to step up
penalties and lock growers and sellers away, for longer sentences. This
reminds me of the average American Joe interviewed on television following
9/11; something to the tune of: "I say we go over to Iraq and we bomb the
crap out of them." People should not make decisions clouded by emotion, or
without fully understanding the situation at hand.

But, have it your way and picture this: now the penalties for marijuana and
drugs like cocaine are on par. The availability of marijuana becomes
scarce, as street value skyrockets. All of a sudden it's even more
profitable for criminals, dangerous ones, to be in the business.

The pot industry falls deeper into the depths of gangland, and the James
Roszkos of the world are at the helm. All of a sudden growers facing
imprisonment are even more willing to kill.

Besides that, the issue isn't that four RCMP officers died because of
marijuana, the issue is that a known lunatic was on the loose, in the
possession of illegal firearms.

And, at the end of the day, four good-intentioned people with brothers,
sisters, fathers and daughters had to die fighting something that we're
told doesn't kill in the first place.

Look out right-wingers, the Liberals aren't looking so bad in my books.

They seem to know better how to deal with issues like this, and like you
guessed it, gay marriage.

Though I'm not religious, treating people (yes, that includes homosexual
people) with equality is important to me. Congrats to Bow Valley columnist
Patrick La Montagne for nailing that one on the head recently.

And, though I'm not married, I know that 'marriage' is a word, and a
marriage is what you make of it, not what you call it.

Let's stop wasting time, money and energy on useless issues like this one,
and focus on the important ones, like the judicial system or the environment.