WHY THE WAR ON DRUGS WILL NEVER BE WON

Re: "The pot patrol," Aug. 15.

"As long as there's money to be made, the growers will keep planting,
and the helicopters will stay in the air." No truer words were ever
written.

This article provides evidence why our so-called drug war is not
working, nor will it ever.

Money talks. The laws of supply and demand formulated by Adam Smith
eons ago still apply today.

Let's look who wins and loses from the Pot Patrol:

The winners:

- - Police: Those few lucky enough to get the cushy job of flying around in a
helicopter all day long looking for a "demon plant."

- - Police (again): But, oh, they don't have enough manpower for the job
. so let's give them more funding! Hah!

- - Media: Hey, what kind of reporter wouldn't want to ride a cool 'copter and
hang out with Canada's finest while deciding what "slant" for the newspiece
to take?

- - Government: It's a great opportunity for the government to profess it's
doing what it can to "protect" its citizens from drugs.

- - Organized Crime: The smaller, more foolish outdoor growers get their
patches eradicated while the larger growers lose only enough for them to
bitch about while they harvest the crop that made it. Plus, the more that
gets caught the less competition for the winners, along with higher prices.

The loser: Society.

While goverment and police have choppers swooping around looking for
marijuana plantations, we're paying for it. A useless effort that does
nothing to put a dent in the lucrative trade.

Under our drug laws, a great deal of money is going toward eradicating
this plant. It's not working. Look at the United States to see if
their harsher laws work any better.

They don't.

Only when enough pressure is put on government officials to create a
regulatory system for currently illegal drugs -- something that
actually works and is not based on decades-old propaganda and racism
- -- will the Pot Patrol be able to rest easy, and taxpayer money go
toward more noble pursuits.

Daniel Tourigny

Victoria.