GOVERNMENT SHOULD REAP POT REWARDS, NOT ORGANIZED CRIME

Abbotsford criminal lawyer John Conroy isn't surprised by a Fraser
Institute economists study that said marijuana should be legal and
taxed.

It's the same opinion held by world renown economist Milton Friedman,
other economists and one promoted by The Economist magazine for years,
he said Thursday.

"The war against drugs is ridiculous, as far as they're concerned,"
said Conroy, who often defends pot cases and is also a founder of the
Canadian branch of the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws.

He said legal marijuana would create significant economic
opportunities for Canadian farmers, particularly in the prairies and
for other businesses.

"I think we should have cannabis cafes all along the border so our
American friends can come and imbibe in it as they do in Amsterdam,"
Conroy said. Once regulations are in place, as they are with legal B.
C. compassionate marijuana growers, prohibition-induced problems
disappear, he said.

From an economics perspective, marijuana prohibition doesn't make
sense as it creates a black market, criminal activity and props up
prices instead of lowering them, Conroy said.

Legalization of pot would divert that key source of revenue from
criminal groups to government, said the report's author, Simon Fraser
University economics professor Stephen Easton and a senior official
with the right-leaning Fraser Institute.

Using data from police, other studies and economic formulas, he
calculated B. C.'s marijuana industry could be worth $7 billion, if
the pot was sold at $5,000 a kilogram [2000 prices]. Although he
admitted illegal activity is difficult to measure accurately, he said
Canada could collect up to $2 billion a year in tax revenue.

Since the demand for pot is steady and a broad sector of people
general ignore the laws, Easton writes "the broader social question
becomes less about whether we approve or disapprove of local
production, but rather who shall enjoy the spoils. As it stands now,
growers and distributors pay some of the costs and reap all the
benefits of the multi-billion dollar marijuana industry, while the
non-marijuana-smoking tax payer sees only costs."

Easton compared pot prohibition to "the sorry episode" of 1920s
alcohol prohibition which nurtured organized crime and used
significant police resources. He points out police destroy 3,000
grow-ops a year in B. C. but any growers taken out are quickly
replaced or start over.

"Marijuana is too easily produced and exported to be controlled with
the tools available to a law enforcement in a free society," Easton
said.

Conroy said the recent increase in municipal bylaws and police efforts
to bust more grow-ops only makes things worse.

"The irony is that they're exacerbating the problem. There are all
kinds of increased costs, increasing the black market, increasing
attempts to hide," he said.

Conroy dismissed Rich Coleman's comment that the United States
government would retaliate by cutting trade with Canada as fear mongering.

"It's just nonsense. They don't cut off trade with Mexico and they get
much more marijuana coming in from there. They depend on trade going
both ways," he said.

"If anything we need to stop cocaine from coming up here, which is a
far more serious problem," he said, adding he sees women addicted to
crack cocaine and selling sex to pay for their habits outside his
downtown Abbotsford office every day.

Abbotsford's marijuana activist and Marijuana Party candidate Tim
Felger supports legalizing marijuana, but said it should be taxed as a
farm product and not bear a "sin tax."

"Tax it as a farm gate earned income, just like chicken eggs," he
said. He disagreed with Easton's estimate, saying provincial revenues
are likely closer to $700,000 million than $7 billion.

Conservative candidate Randy White said marijuana remains a health
hazard, the "cottage industry" of grow-ops are funded by organized
crime and they would still sell marijuana to the United States, and
even if the government would grow marijuana, people would likely grow
their own to get a stronger high.

White said he doubts most families in Abbotsford would support
legalization. "You can't look at issues like this just because it's
money for government," he said.

To view the entire report online, go to www.fraserinstitute.ca