MARIJUANA SHOULD BE LEGALIZED: READER

THIS IS A letter about a front page article in the press entitled "Police
Chief Against Decriminalizing Pot".

First of all, my stand is that pot should be decriminalized.

Even though I have not imbibed in the use of marijuana since I was younger,
I feel it should be decriminalized because having a joint is no more
harmful than having a couple of beers. I do not drink much either.

Because pot possession is a criminal offence, people with minor amounts of
pot are being charged and given a criminal record for something that
shouldn't be illegal.

The police chief's argument that it would send the wrong message to kids I
think is a false argument. I can tell you that the kids get pot illegally
anyway.

Something being illegal has never stopped people from doing it anyway.

What this is doing is tying up the courts and law enforcement officers and
giving them work.

That is why police chiefs are against the decriminalizing of pot.

The only reason the police are against decriminalizing pot is because there
is no way of testing for driving under the influence.

Marijuana should be legalized and sold over the counter just like tobacco is.

This would eliminate illegal drug trafficking in soft drugs.

The other argument that pot is a gateway drug and leads to hard drug use is
also a false argument.

I know people who occasionally imbibe in a joint and they are all against
hard drugs.

So, those are my arguments for the decriminalizing of pot. Something to
think about, isn't it.

Gerald Keyes

Timmins