MARIJUANA LAWS REMAIN A JOKE

RICK KEEP'S letter (Nov. 28) makes a very good point. It's a point
thousands of us have been making for years: Marijuana laws are so widely
disregarded, they have become a joke. Your own article on grow houses shows
the extent to which marijuana is obviously sought out in this country. Grow
houses exist for two reasons: (1) it's illegal, so they have to hide and
(2) the marijuana grown in these houses is apparently much more potent.

Legalization (not decriminalization) would address both of these problems.
If marijuana were legal, the vast majority of users would simply grow their
own in the garden. For the people that desire higher THC content, they
would still purchase from hydroponic sources but if it were legal, the
operation in Barrie would have simply been a viable business paying
electricity bills and employing dozens of people. As for the trading of
marijuana for guns, this is facilitated by the fact that criminal
organizations make so much money from marijuana sales, they can afford this
kind of expense. Cutting off their major source of income (and it is, by
far) would reduce their ability to get involved in other far more
detrimental pursuits.

Ted Davidson

Oshawa

(Unless it's made legal in the U.S., the major market for local grow-house
pot, your argument doesn't fly)