PARTY POOPERS

Re: "For Sale: B.C. bud," Editorial, June 14.

Extending the logic of Stephen Easton of the Fraser Institute, who
argued that cannabis should be legally regulated, in part because it
is widespread and its prohibition is ineffective, you wrote, "If
surveys showed that 23 per cent of the public had shoplifted at some
point in their lives, even though conviction and jail time for these
crimes remains low, theft should be legalized -- clearly
unacceptable."

Clearly. There is no obvious way to tax shoplifting and no working
example of a legally regulated shoplifting regime. There are no
constitutional challenges nor cases of medical necessity. There are no
public opinion polls showing broad-based support for legal shoplifting
and there are no academics, parliamentary committees, blue-ribbon
panels, columnists, editorial boards, medical journals or conservative
think-tanks calling for it.

If you sincerely fail to see a distinction between consuming and/or
selling cannabis to consenting adults and theft, do not expect to be
invited to many parties.

Matthew M. Elrod

Victoria, B.C.