Pubdate: Fri, 11 Mar 2005 Source: Alliston Herald (CN ON) Copyright: 2005 Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing Contact: http://www.simcoe.com/sc/alliston/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2224 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) WRONG AGENDA The argument four members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police would be alive today if marijuana was legal in Canada is absolutely ludicrous. It's true that if it was completely legal to grow your own pot then there just wouldn't be the same demand for grow labs. The customer base they depend upon would simply dry up. But these "commercial" growers are not pot-smoking anarchists who want the narcotic legalized so they can smoke it themselves. This isn't about politics or freedom for them, it's about one thing -- money. When the customer base dries up and the profitability of their operations falls, they will quickly get out of pot. Criminals who operate marijuana growing operations, whether they be in a greenhouse, quonset hut or suburban home, would simply move on to some other lucrative illegal drug with a high-profit margin. Instead of busting up grow labs, cops would be faced with the unenviable and even more dangerous task of raiding crystal meth or other chemical designer drug labs. For all indications the perpetrator of the shooting out west didn't kill the RCMP officers to protect his growing operation anyway. It had already been broken up and removed. This individual clearly had a history of problems with the police. This had more to do with some demented form of revenge than it did marijuana. For the pot lobby to use this tragedy to advance its own agenda is shameful and disgusting. If anyone should be using it, it should be opposition party members to show how ineffective the multi-billion dollar Liberal gun registry is and always will be. Pot doesn't kill people -- guns do. Stephen Harper shouldn't be shying away from the argument because he's afraid it might make him look insensitive. When all the mourning has been done, the family members of these officers will be looking for answers and measures to ensure such a thing never happens again. There's nothing shameful about that. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth