HAZARDOUS GROW OPS A DIRECT RESULT OF MARIJUANA PROHIBITION

Editor, The Record:

Hazardous marijuana grow operations are a direct result of marijuana
prohibition. Legitimate farmers do not steal electricity to grow produce in
the basements of rented homes. If legal, growing marijuana would be less
profitable then farming tomatoes. As it stands, the drug war distorts
market forces such that an easily grown weed is literally worth its weight
in gold.

Rather than continue to subsidize organized crime and put neighborhoods at
risk of fire, Canadian policy makers should ignore the reefer madness
hysteria of the U.S. government and instead to look their own Senate for
guidance. In the words of Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, "Scientific evidence
overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful than
alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a social and
public health issue."

There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting
children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of
marijuana and frees users from the stigma of life-shattering criminal
records. What's really needed is a regulated market with age controls.

Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. As long as marijuana
distribution remains in the hands of organized crime, consumers will
continue to come into contact with addictive drugs like cocaine. This
"gateway" is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy. Drug
policy reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like to think
the children are more important than the message.

Robert Sharpe