Pubdate: Mon, 05 May 2003 Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2003, Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: http://www.canoe.com/NewsStand/TorontoSun/home.html Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457 Author: John Ingraham Note: Parenthetical remark by the Sun editor, headline by newshawk THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST LEGALIZATION ARE RIDICULOUS I FOUND the Sun's series on the marijuana culture in Canada to be informative and accurate. I work with a compassionate marijuana-for-medical-use forum and believe decriminalization is not the answer, legalization is! The arguments against legalization are ridiculous with marijuana a daily part of so many Canadians' lives. I do not believe access to legal marijuana would increase the number of folks using it (responsibly or otherwise). Decriminalization will only remove the trauma many otherwise law-biding Canadians face when arrested for simple possession. As long as marijuana fetches upwards of $300 an ounce it will be attractive to organized crime, and it won't make a bit of difference that it's decriminalized. But remove the value, and you eliminate all the problems it brings! John Ingraham Toronto (Our poll shows one in five Canadians agrees with you) - --- MAP posted-by: Alex