POT LAW WOULD FREE UP POLICE

Re Make pot legal: Senate panel, Sept. 5.

It is good to see that a Canadian Senate committee has finally recognized
what millions of people have known for a long time -- that the
criminalization of marijuana use is nonsensical and cannot be justified any
longer.

The bipartisan committee, chaired by Senator Pierre-Claude Nolin, took an
unbiased look at the current legal situation and has recommended that pot
be legalized. I find it unsurprising that the strongest dissenting voice is
that of the Association of Canadian Police Chiefs, an organization whose
members depend heavily on the so-called war on drugs to keep them employed;
imagine how many hours of pointless police work will be saved each year by
pot legalization (leaving the cops free to investigate crimes that actually
hurt people).

Canadian Police Association executive director David Griffin's comment that
the Senate report is a "gift" to drug pushers is patently ridiculous; one
must wonder whether Griffin would also like to see alcohol criminalized,
too, as his convoluted reasoning would apply equally to booze. The only
reason that drug pushers exist on the street is because their wares cannot
be sold in stores.

Gregory Azeff

Toronto