IT'S TIME TO STUB OUT REEFER MADNESS SCARE TACTICS

B.C. Solicitor-General Rich Coleman claims the pot industry results in
murders, drug labs and illegal trade of guns (B.C. rejects lower penalty
for marijuana, Dec. 12). What utter rot! It is, more accurately, the
immoral and illogical war on pot that is the source of our woes. The
continued prohibition of marijuana is entrenching organized crime and
corruption into the fabric of our society in such a manner that we will all
suffer for generations.

Pot is used recreationally and medicinally by millions of Canadians. For
generations, governments have suffered from "reefer madness."Yet, after all
these years, no compelling reason has been presented as to why pot should
be illegal. Were we to make chocolate illegal tomorrow (imagine users
laying around reading romances and eating chocolates, artificially inducing
chemical reactions, like feelings of love, while neglecting their families
and duties), it would only be a matter of time before an illegal chocolate
industry would spring up resulting in murders, chocolate labs and illegal
trade of guns. Alcohol prohibition created a horrible crime wave in the
U.S., the likes of which had never been seen before or since.

The danger to British Columbians lies not in pot, but in the ignorance of
people such as Mr. Coleman who will sacrifice our liberties, resources,
lives and social fabric in order to continue this immoral madness -- and,
not incidentally, accommodate U.S .pressure.

It is like in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy ripped aside the curtain to
reveal the Wizard for what he was, a very small man, full of bluster, who,
unlike our Mr. Coleman, had the decency to be embarrassed when his deceits
were finally exposed.

Walter Loos

Port Coquitlam