POT LAWS ARE TO BLAME FOR VIOLENCE

Re: 'Pot must not be supported', Dec. 3.

I must agree with the letter writer that marijuana is indeed a "gateway"
drug. Very easily said, but the reason that this is a fact, I believe, is
more complex than such a simple statement.

The problem is rooted within the law itself.

If pot was not prohibited, it would not be sold by criminals, but by
licensed retailers.

Licensed retailers are not likely to offer the customer a piece of crack
cocaine; on the other hand someone that makes a living selling illegal
goods is quite likely to offer your kids a taste of something deadly. Or
for that matter they might offer to sell them 'hot' merchandise, ultimately
desensitizing our youth to the evils of real crime.

The next thing you know, little Johnny is stealing from the neighbours to
support his drug habit.

Prohibition has never stopped society from using recreational drugs.

The proof here is that there isn't one heroin addict that started doing
junk when it was legal. Nor did Americans stop drinking during Prohibition.

(There is quite a parallel, export-wise, in prohibitions of then and now
between the United States and Canada).

We must learn from history and our mistakes.

The late '20s in the States during the prohibition of alcohol provided a
hey-day for organized crime rings as it is today for many organizations
growing and selling weed to the black market.

I recently read an article in a Toronto daily that says that 57 per cent of
Canadians are in favour of decriminalization of marijuana.
Decriminalization is not even a Band-Aid fix. It will give way to an even
larger black market.

Legalization and education are the ways to rid us of the criminal presence
in the world of recreational drugs.

This is a debate that will carry on for some time to come. I have one thing
to say to those that wish to use knee-jerk reactions to solve problems:
'Get the Big Picture'.

Glenn LeGassicke