TOUGH SENTENCES NO SOLUTION

In your Jan. 4 editorial, you concluded that "the proliferation of
(cannabis) home grows poses a threat to communities that can only be
stopped with tough, serious sentencing."

Your theory is not consistent with the available evidence.

There is no correlation between sentencing and the proliferation of home
grows, much less community safety.

The prices, profits and destructive techniques employed to avoid detection
rise in tandem with the perceived risks.

I do not feel threatened by my neighbour's vegetable garden but electrical
fires, home invasions, drive-by shootings and lost SWAT teams make me nervous.

Yes, home grows and our futile efforts to stop them pose a threat to
communities, but one that can only be reduced by legalizing, taxing and
regulating the cannabis trade.

Matthew M. Elrod, Victoria, B.C.