LETTER WRITERS KEEP POT ISSUE ON FRONT BURNER

Thank (or blame) the Internet, but our local newspapers receive responses
from the most unexpected places.

We generally don't run letters from outside our local communities, but we
get them from all over the place. In some cases, they originate with some
crank who mass mails his opinions to every newspaper in Canada.

But very often, they are a specific response to a story. A recent story
about spraying for mosquitoes, for example, attracted a letter from Nepean,
Ont. But no topic is more certain to provide e-mails from hither and yon
than marijuana.

For a while, every time any York Region newspaper ran a police item about a
pot bust, we would get an angry e-mail from a couple in Victoria, B.C.
accusing us of complicity in a police-driven plot.

But that was nothing compared to a little story we ran about the police
board wanting Ottawa to clarify marijuana possession laws. Board member Bob
Callow was angry about a case in which a Thornhill woman called police to
report the theft of two bags of marijuana.

"It's ridiculous to put our police service in the position where someone
can report the theft of their drugs and we're in the position of going out
and trying to find out who stole their marijuana," Mr. Callow said at a
meeting a couple of weeks ago.

Well, to some people, it's not so ridiculous.

"What is absurd is having cops pretend to be drug policy scholars,
especially so when it is obvious what they really crave are budget
increases and higher salaries doing relatively light work, busting dopers,"
said a letter originating in Brick, New Jersey.

"Theft is theft. We Canadians are sick and tired of our hard earned
tax-paying money going to paying for prohibition," said a missive signed by
a woman in Maple Ridge, B.C.

I do think, by the way, she has a point. In the marijuana theft in
question, the victim said two men who claimed to have a gun took two bags
of marijuana. That's armed robbery and I don't much care whether they stole
her wallet or her weed, police should investigate.

In much the same way, police were diligent in their investigation of a
violent home invasion at a Maple grow house earlier this year. Two men were
charged with attempted murder, robbery, forcible confinement and wearing a
disguise with intent to commit a crime. Nobody questioned whether the
victims were doing something illegal and, therefore, the crime should be
ignored.

But having said that, you have to admit this country has gone a little
topsy-turvy. If your car gets dinged on the road, you're afraid to call
police because it will drive your insurance rates through the roof, but
illegal drug users brazenly call 911 to report their stash has been stolen.

And Mr. Callow, who is not a police officer, was complaining about the
unworkable situation of having the government announce it is
decriminalizing simple possession but not passing new legislation.

Yes, York Regional Police are officially opposed to marijuana
decriminalization, but more importantly, they need clear legislative
direction to do their jobs. I'm sure our correspondents know this very
well. They are obviously a clever and well-organized bunch, monitoring the
Internet for stories about their pet issue and expressing their point of
view en masse every chance they get.

It's probably a good strategy for dealing with the Chretien government in
its doddering legacy years -- scream your rights are being violated long
and loud enough and the feds are likely to capitulate to just about anything.

Too bad such astute political strategists are so determined to obliterate
their own brain cells.