SENATE REPORT HARDLY ASTONISHING

I may not be qualified to comment but, hey, they have teetotallers on the
liquor board, so here goes ...

Perhaps the word "simpleton" is not politically correct, but it correctly
describes politicians who profess to be shocked -- shocked! -- by the
Senate report on marijuana.

Have they, like Rip Van Winkle, been asleep for the last 28 years?
Everything in this report has been available to them since Le Dain in 1974,
and every one of that commission's conclusions has stood the test of time.

Yes, we do indeed have problems with addictions of various kinds, as Health
Minister John Nilson says, but thankfully marijuana isn't one of them.

No, it isn't a "back-to-school gift for drug-pushers" as national police
association spokesperson David Griffen says. That description would apply
to doing nothing and permitting the law to continue its de facto
supply-management program which keeps the price high and gives the pushers
their incentive to push.

For too long, the authorities have wasted time, money and talents of the
police promoting a tired and discredited brew of myth and misinformation
about marijuana. This report presents politicians with another opportunity
to put the matter right.

Let's hope they don't blow it this time.

Geoff Galloway

Saskatoon