Pubdate: Sun, 05 Dec 2004
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2004, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact:  http://www.canoe.com/NewsStand/TorontoSun/home.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author: Evangelos Xristos
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

LEGALIZING POT THE ONLY CHOICE

RE YOUR comment that legalization of marijuana is not a choice (Letters, 
Nov. 28): Sorry, you are wrong. It's the only rational choice. Any further 
prosecutions will only increase the price; hence, the profits and the 
people trying to make that fast million that they would probably never make 
any other way.

The only rational way to stop this is to allow people to grow all that they 
want -- like tomatoes. Then the artificially created, ridiculously 
over-inflated price of pot -- typically $1,000 per plant -- estimated by 
police, who have a vested interest in keeping pot illegal because it means 
their jobs.

It takes the same amount of effort and skill to grow tomatoes as it does to 
grow pot. This invites any average backyard gardener to try his luck.

For a million dollars, it's worth anyone's risk -- especially if the 
statistics that you quote are accurate. Only 1% see jail.

Articles like this only exacerbate the situation and encourage more people 
to set up grow houses. Most, by the way, are not, as the police would have 
you believe, organized crime, although that is a catch-all phrase and can 
mean anything from the Mafia (which we all know doesn't exist) to bikers to 
various ethnic/nationalistic groups.

The government getting out of the pot biz and freeing the weed is the only 
rational way to stop the traffic in pot. If you need any more proof of 
this, simply show me where there is an illegal market in tomatoes.

If pot were the same price as tomatoes, only the users would grow a few 
plants for themselves. There would be no profit motive for pot and pot 
wouldn't sell for a thousand dollars a plant.

Why is this so difficult for so many people to realize, besides the ones as 
mentioned above, who have vested interests in keeping pot illegal? Put the 
police back to doing honest police work and we won't need to hire more cops 
and increase taxes to further chase our own tails.

In the meantime, keep up the good work encouraging more and more people to 
become millionaires.

Evangelos Xristos

Hamilton

(We didn't say legalization is not a choice, we said we can't stop busting 
grow houses because of the myriad social and economic problems they cause. 
By the way, ever gotten high on tomato salad?) 
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