POLICY MAKERS SHOULD IGNORE MADNESS

Paul Willcocks' Aug. 8 column was right on target.

B.C.'s 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 then 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 policy
makers should ignore the reefer madness hysteria of the U.S.
government and 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."

Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, DC