POT PROHIBITION DOES NOT WORK

To the Editor:

Re: Police Bust Five Grow-Ops (NDN Friday, Dec. 3, 2004)

Police caught five grow-ops, but all this will accomplish is a raise
for the growers they didn't catch. This continuing waste of police
time and money is beyond absurd, it is criminal. The blame falls
squarely on the shoulders of our inept and lazy federal government.

Regulation could easily fix this problem. If you don't believe that,
just look at how many "bath-tub gin mills" we see in our
neighbourhoods. Home growers could have restrictions and be subject
to inspection, commercial growers would have to be in greenhouses,
farms, or industrial parks, and commercial sales could be regulated
through compassion clubs and "coffee shops."

What police fail to recognize is that in a regulated drug market, they
would actually have far more powers of investigation and enforcement.
Why they continue to ask for more prohibition is one of life's great
mysteries. Prohibition is the cause of all this organized crime and
violence, and regulation is the solution. If prohibition were going
to work, it would have worked by now.

Russell Barth

Educators For A Sensible Drug Policy

Ottawa, Ontario