GROWING MARIJUANA SHOULD BE LEGAL Re: Indoor pot-farming trend pushes into
cottage country, October 23.

Ontario's 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 and put neighbourhoods at
risk of fire, policymakers should follow the recommendation of the Canadian
Senate and end marijuana prohibition. 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.

As long as marijuana distribution remains in the hands of organized crime,
consumers will continue to come into contact with hard 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,

Program Officer Washington, D.C.