DRUGS: GREEN SWEEP IMPACT QUESTIONED

Dear Editor,

Will Operation Green Sweep's use of our tax-dollars to enforce the
prohibition approach to pot policy, which admittedly sells papers, props up
police budgets, and scores political points, actually have any significant
impact on the usage rates, price, or production of pot [Pot busted, Feb 1.,
Langley Advance News]?

History says no: alcohol prohibition in North America produced tens of
thousands of news articles and police raids identical to the those
accompanying the Green Sweep PR stunt, and the production and smuggling of
illegal (and often poisonous) home-distilled hooch increased annually for
the entire period.

Replace "pot" with "booze" and "grow op" with "still." If something easy to
produce is made worth its weight in gold by prohibition policies, and the
fact is publicized through the press constantly, then there is no stopping
people from trying to cash in.

Society survived ending alcohol prohibition, despite dire predictions that
are being repeated about pot in the present, and most of Europe has already
ended pot prohibition with no apparent problems.

Only organized criminals will be put out if we end the prohibition on pot.

The police have better things to do with their time than protect us from
greedy home gardeners, and our tax-dollars have better uses than providing
them with free room and board in prison to the tune of 50G per year per pot
grower.

Chris Donald
Dartmouth, NS