CURRENT LAWS PROVIDE FOR 'GATEWAY'

Dear Editor:

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 than 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, Canadian policy makers
should ignore the reefer madness hysteria of the U.S. government and
instead look to 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 use 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 such addictive drugs as
cocaine.

This "gateway" is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy.

Drug policy may send the wrong message to children, but I like to think the
children are more important than the message.

Robert Sharpe, Program officer with the Washington-based Drug Policy Alliance.