Pubdate: Fri, 30 Aug 2002
Source: Kitchener-Waterloo Record (CN ON)
Copyright: 2002 Kitchener-Waterloo Record
Contact:  http://www.therecord.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/225
Author: Benjamin James

THE POT-HYDRO HASSLE

In response to the Aug. 24 article entitled Hydro Thefts Add to Your Bill, 
I feel that saying Ontarians pay an average of $6 more on their monthly 
electricity bills is an irresponsible claim to make.

In my opinion, Ontarians should be more steamed, not that pot grow-ops are 
sucking up electricity, but that all this energy is being wasted due to our 
ridiculous and arbitrary government policies.

Rather than throwing more money away trying to stop the unstoppable, it 
would be a much wiser decision, I feel, to simply legalize marijuana. This 
way, anyone who wants to can grow their own pot in their backyard, using 
the most renewable energy resource available -- the sun. The environment 
will be helped by lowering our power consumption; a huge cash crop will be 
instantly taken from various organized crime elements; and all of the money 
now spent, and proposed to be spent, on finding "grow houses" can be put 
back into meaningful programs like health care, education or maintaining 
the integrity of our drinking water.

This is a no-lose situation for the people of this province, except, of 
course, when the current administration continues to try and enforce its 
sad excuse for "laws" which are the fundamental cause of this huge drain on 
our hydro supplies.

It is far beyond time for people to wake up and stop blindly following the 
government's red herring and realize that it is the government itself that 
is directly responsible for this situation.

Benjamin James Toronto
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom