Pubdate: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 Source: Revelstoke Times Review (CN BC) Copyright: 2004 Bowes Publishers Contact: http://www.revelstoketimesreview.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2139 Author: Robert Sharpe Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/writers/Robert+Sharpe Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1161/a10.html GRASS COLUMN HIT MARK Paul Willcocks' Aug. 11 (Time for government to abandon failed marijuana strategy) column was right on target. BC's hazardous marijuana grow operations are a direct result of marijuana prohibition. Legitimate farmers do not steal electricity to grow produce in the basements of rented homes. If legal, growing marijuana would be less profitable than farming tomatoes. As it stands, the drug war distorts market forces such that an easily grown weed is literally worth its weight in gold. Rather than continue to subsidize organized crime, Canadian policymakers should ignore the reefer madness hysteria of the U.S. government and instead to look to their own Senate for guidance. In the words of (Canadian) Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, "scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a social and public health issue." Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, DC - --- MAP posted-by: Josh