PROHIBITION FEEDS ILLEGAL GROW HOUSES

Dear Editor - I can understand Tom Ford's concern for his neighborhood "Stop
the pot grow operators" (The Guelph Mercury, Sept.16) but he needs to look
beyond his street.

No amount of enforcement will make marijuana grow houses go away. It is said
that one in every three homes in British Columbia is a grow op. Authorities
admit that the situation is hopelessly out of control. Just look to the
U.S., where the problem has only gotten worse after militarizing their
police forces and spending billions in the war on some drugs.

This is because prohibition makes a God-given herb literally worth its
weight in gold. The risk/reward ratio is a no brainer. You don't hear about
people ransacking houses to grow tomatoes, do you?

Decriminalization will not solve any problems, and leaves the production and
distribution of "drugs" in the hands of organized crime (and terrorists).
Children are still left unprotected, dealers don't require identification.

When we re-legalize and regulate Marijuana like alcohol, the problems of
prohibition will once again vanish.

Ian Miller,

Halifax