END MARIJUANA PROHIBITION

RE: "CHASING potheads called waste of time," Nov. 5. Alliance MP Keith
Martin misses the point. Decriminalizing small-scale marijuana possession
will do little to free police resources and will actually help criminal
organizations, including terrorists, by increasing their revenues.

Already, police spend little time focusing on minor possession. Charges
most often occur as a result of arrest for other reasons (i.e. a person is
pulled over for speeding and, subsequently, marijuana is found in the
vehicle.) Since police rarely lay marijuana possession charges in
isolation, decriminalization will do little to save money.

Meanwhile, dropping the criminal deterrent will open up the marijuana
market, increasing revenues for the underground networks that supply it. We
know that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida organization is financed in part by
drug money. Why would we want to increase a black market that funds terrorism?

The only way to tackle this problem is to end marijuana prohibition. Cheap
pot available from licensed vendors or grown at home would break up the
marijuana black market overnight. Why? Large-scale criminal and terrorist
organizations are involved in the drug trade because it's profitable - a
direct result of prohibition.

A regulated legalization of marijuana would create an enormous relief for
police and the courts and increase government tax coffers. For a drug that
the Canadian Medical Association considers relatively benign, where is the
downside to legalization?

Neil MacNaughton

(If any change in the law comes on this issue, decriminalization will be
tried long before legalization.)