'PROHIBITION MORE DANGEROUS THAN WE THOUGHT'

It is unfortunate that Province columnist Jon Ferry neglected to attend the
recent B.C. Civil Liberties Association conference at which Vancouver Mayor
Larry Campbell called for the legalization, regulation and taxation of
cannabis.

Ferry might have learned a thing or two.

I attended the conference and Campbell did not call for "more pot."

We know from declining tobacco use that we can tax and regulate drugs, both
"good" and "bad," without sending "mixed messages" or increasing usage
rates.

As a responsible journalist, Ferry should know why such drugs (and herbs)
were made illegal in Canada.

It was because they were used by coloured immigrants who worked longer and
harder for less pay than alcoholic Caucasians. It had nothing whatsoever to
do with "huge health risks."

If cannabis has become a "dirty little drug peddled by those too lazy to do
real work," then perhaps it should be distributed by those hard-working
folks at the liquor store, or the pharmacy, or the natural health products
shop.

Matthew M. Elrod,

Victoria