MORE HUMANE STANCE ON MARIJUANA NEEDED

Re: Federal funds to be shared by universities (March 9). I am not a
medicinal cannabis exemptee. Nevertheless, in light of federal Industry
Minister Allan Rock's endorsement of the Flin Flon crop, I am hopeful that
that endorsement will translate into a more humane approach towards those
who produce a finer quality of cannabis, specifically selected for a
variety of medical conditions.

How is it, though, that Mr. Rock can sing the praises of his government's
initiative and the country's first medicinal marijuana crop as the kind of
innovation that can have a positive impact on the economy, yet those with
and without official "authorization," who produce a finer quality of
cannabis, specifically selected for a variety of medical conditions, are
consistently subjected to police and prohibitionist harassment and
condemnation, criminal charges and the deprivation of their medicine and
the medication grown for other exemptees?

In light of the treatment currently afforded exemptees, Mr. Rock's
endorsement could only be taken as a slap in the face to every exemptee who
has experienced the "lash" of indignity in order to survive this
government's new "exemption process."

The amount of money (in the access of $450 million in 1999-2000 alone) that
is spent on enforcement and prosecution could be diverted back into health
care, education and other social concerns. If cannabis were a taxed
commodity, those taxes could be channeled back into drug education,
treatment/rehabilitation centres and job creation.

Wayne Phillips,

Hamilton