TEAM A STEP TOWARDS A POLICE STATE

Editor: Re: "40 grow-ops pinpointed" (The Times, July 11).

In this article, reporter Natasha Jones refers to an operation that
was carried out by the Township's Public Safety Inspection Team, which
is comprised of firefighters, bylaw enforcement officers, municipal
staff, RCMP and BC Hydro.

According to provincial legislation, they can enter premises without a
search warrant. This makes me wonder who is next on the list to join
the team -- the postman?

What is our mayor and council trying to do, create a police state
within a democracy? Or does this just provide ammunition for snitches,
who reside in all local neighbourhoods? Or is it a way to justify
expanding their powers?

To solve the problem, I have some free advice. We should make
marijuana legal. That's not only my personal opinion, but the
recommendation of Senator Larry Campbell, the LeDain Commission
ordered by former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and many other people,
including the late Pierre Berton.

By doing so, we will prevent people from building a dependency on
other drugs like coke, amphetamines, crack etc., I agree these drugs
are deadly.

By making it legal, we would also free up a lot of staff from the
so-called "Green Team" to fight a more dangerous drug, alcohol, which
is often mixed with excessive speed. Each year, several teenagers lose
their lives in Langley to that dangerous drug, but I have yet to hear
about the first one that took a toke and croaked.

Let's leave drug enforcement up to the RCMP, as they have the
training, and if they have extra staff with nothing to do, let them
watch the border to stop the constant flow of coke and illegal weapons.

Maurice Vanderbeke

Langley