MILLIONS UP IN SMOKE

Re: Cops nab 5 in pot case (Cary Castagna, Feb. 9).

Our police, whom I respect and support, seized $34 million worth of pot and
$120,000 in cash last year.

While our government dithers over this and that, one of the dithers is the
decriminalization of marijuana. In fact we paid for a pot farm in old
abandoned mines the quality of whose product didn't even pass the street
test. So, we want to make it legal, don't have the knowledge or skill to
grow it properly, and destroy the product that's seized. I can only imagine
what the burning of $34 million smells like, but at least there was
$120,000 available to pay for the cost of the fire.

And yes, I know all the arguments -- the organized crime, street gang,
perpetuating cycles of poverty, violence and abuse, but I also know the
majority argument. Mostly law-abiding, hard-working normal people who smoke
pot on occasion or occasionally. Sound familiar?

I guess it's just the ratio that bothers me. Maybe if we waited until there
was $34 million in cash and $120,000 in pot everybody would be a little bit
happier.

Glenn Reive

Winnipeg

(Tax it and we'd be rolling in dough.)