PROHIBITION USELESS

Dan Leger (July 30 column) is right: marijuana prohibition doesn't
work. It reduces our faith in the justice system. It forces cops and
users to fight an ugly war that nobody wins. It also provides an
endless source of funding for criminal organizations. Furthermore,
cannabis is a safe and effective medicine for many ailments, and it
is currently unavailable to all but a few Canadians.

Many cultures and many Canadians have seen a lot of benefit from the
occasional controlled use of psychedelics; but we're not allowed to
go there either. Prohibition is a patronizingly superior notion; it
assumes that individuals can't control what they do with their
bodies. Drug abuse - as opposed to drug use - is a problem we need to
address with every medical and social tool we can get our hands on.
This is not a problem that will be solved by the criminal justice system.

Our children would all be much safer if every psychoactive substance
that is currently available only on the black market could be
researched, regulated, and distributed by the government, just like
other drugs.

Connie Littlefield

Halifax