OUR EDITORIALS ARE DOPE

Your Oct. 19 editorial was right on target. Hazardous marijuana grow
operations are a direct result of marijuana prohibition. Legitimate
farmers do not steal electricity to grow produce in the basements of rented
homes. If legal, growing marijuana would be less profitable than farming
tomatoes. As it stands, the drug war distorts market forces such that an
easily grown weed is literally worth its weight in gold.

Rather than continue to subsidize organized crime, Canadian policymakers
should ignore the reefer madness hysteria of the U.S. government and
instead look to their own Senate for guidance. In the words of Senator
Pierre Claude Nolin, "Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that
cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated
not as a criminal issue, but as a social and public health issue."

Students who want to help end the intergenerational culture war otherwise
known as the war on some drugs should contact Students for Sensible Drug
Policy at www.ssdp.org.

Robert Sharpe

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Arlington, VA