LEGALIZE IT

While I applaud your Nov. 8 editorial's support for Canadian Alliance MP
Keith Martin's recommendation marijuana be decriminalized, I respectfully
disagree with your contention marijuana should remain a banned substance.

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.

More disturbing is the manner in which marijuana's illegal status exposes
users to sellers of hard drugs. Marijuana might be relatively harmless
compared to legal drugs like alcohol - the plant has never been shown to
cause an overdose death - but marijuana prohibition is quite deadly.
Illegal marijuana provides the black-market contacts that introduce youth
to drugs like crack.

As long as marijuana distribution remains in the hands of organized crime,
consumers will continue to come into contact with hard drugs.

Robert Sharpe, Program Officer, the Lindesmith Centre Drug Policy
Foundation, Washington, D.C.