TIME TO TAKE TABOO OUT OF POT PRODUCTION

Dear Editor,

Richmond's hazardous marijuana grow operations (News, Mar. 1) 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 and put neighbourhoods at
risk of fire, Canadian policymakers 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 addictive drugs like 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, MPA, Program Officer, Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, DC