Pubdate: Wed, 04 Feb 2004
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2004 The Edmonton Journal
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Author: David Keeling
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n206/a11.html?11232

WHAT WERE EDITORS SMOKING?

Re: "B.C. pot buys Afghan rebels guns: top cop," Journal, Jan. 31.

B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman has pitched the fattest lie since 
"weapons of mass destruction" with the sole intent of directly linking B.C. 
pot growers with death and mayhem abroad. According to Coleman, Afghan 
rebels are reportedly using proceeds from the sales of this noxious 
substance to finance their arms purchases.

The article was so preposterous that it surely would have been better 
placed on the comics page.

Perhaps he was hoping that the members of that particular agricultural 
community would surface and defend themselves against his allegations at 
their nearest constabulary.

It should be an embarrassment to the editors who chose to foist this 
astonishingly bad piece of conjecture on the Canadian public. The claim was 
absolutely ludicrous, and demonstrates everything that is wrong with law 
enforcement's attitude toward pot. The fact that police resources have been 
hurled at this "scourge" for decades with little effect must be frustrating 
for them. Creating a spin which turns dope-growers into the evil financiers 
of the Afghan rebels who are killing Canadian soldiers should, hopefully, 
be their last resort.

If Coleman wanted to create a national boycott of pot, he should have 
suggested that marijuana growers deliberately spread mad cow disease, or 
that pot use  played a significant role in the Enron debacle. As bold lies, 
either might have had a more desirable and less embarrassing effect.

David Keeling, Edmonton
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