POT GROWING IS A MATTER OF FILLING THE DEMAND

Re: Ottawa vows to wipe out pot-growing operations, Nov. 3

Anne McLellan, Canada's public safety minister, may think pot smokers
are "stupid," but they're sure nowhere near as stupid as politicians
who think they can "wipe out pot-growing operations."

It seems she and her ilk just haven't twigged to the fact that only a
very small portion of the dope grown in Canada is actually consumed
here. Most of it is sent south for a very, very lucrative return,
something that will continue as long the risk remains relatively low
(as I recall, despite their Herculean efforts, police estimate only
about 10 per cent or fewer of B.C. grow-ops ever get busted).

Pot cultivation in Canada today is no different from coca growing in
South America, and I don't see suppression attempts here being any
more effective than they have been there over the past two decades or
more. Only reducing demand will curtail cultivation and, from all the
evidence I've seen, that is just not going to happen.

I guess only a "smart" politician can look in a mirror and not see her
own nose.

Richard L. Rogers,

White Rock