MARKET DISTORTED

Dear Editor:

According to your July 5 editorial on crime, Mississauga has become a haven
for marijuana growers.

Legitimate farmers do not steal electricity to grow produce in the
basements of rented homes. If legal, growing marijuana would be less
profitable then 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
neighborhoods at risk of fire, policy makers should consider taxing and
regulating the sale of marijuana to adults.

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 enforceable age
controls. Right now kids have an easier time buying pot than beer.

Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. Marijuana may be
relatively harmless compared to alcohol -- pot has never been shown to
cause an overdose death - but marijuana prohibition is deadly. As long as
marijuana distribution remains in the hands of organized crime, consumers
will continue to come into contact with harder drugs like cocaine. Drug
policy reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like to think
the children themselves are more important than the message.

Robert Sharpe

Program Officer, Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, DC