Pubdate: Thu, 23 Nov 2006 Source: Argus, The (CN ON Edu) Copyright: 2006 Lakehead University Contact: http://argus.lakeheadu.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4361 Author: Chris Gallinger, Argus Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) LEGALIZING POT WON'T INCREASE TOURISM Well ok, not in the traditional sense. It might bring in people, but this is not the type of tourism Thunder Bay needs. Thunder Bay needs tourists who will come here, stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants, play at our golf courses and shop at our local stores. I do not think that legalizing marijuana will bring in this type of tourist. I can speculate two types of "tourists" that this would bring in: the first being the hippie pot-head with no money that comes to our city to crash with their stoner buddies, and contribute nothing to society. Mac's might report record-high Cheetoe sales, but that's probably it. The other so called tourist would be the drug smuggler, coming from the US or the surrounding Canadian cities, only to legally purchase pot and smuggle it out of the city. Again, I doubt that drug dealers would visit our parks, or buy a Thunder Bay T-shirt on their way out of the city. Now I know not all hippies and drug dealers are degenerates, so don't write me any hate mail, but you get my point. We need tourists who will spend money at local businesses, and the only people who would benefit from pot sales are the government (we have an anti-smoking bi-law, remember? So no hash bars). Besides the fact that legalizing marijuana would make it more accessible to children, cause more impaired driving and lead to more lung related illness, it doesn't make sense. Yes, the city would make money from the sale of the drug, but the incurring costs (production, extra policing, etc) would also be high. We would also be alienating other tourists who do not want to come to the "pot-city". We need a better plan for Thunder Bay rather than relying on a novelty idea that probably couldn't be legally carried out anyways. Thunder Bay needs tourism, but this "legalizing pot" idea isn't the way. It caters to a very small group of people, not at all representative of the people of Thunder Bay (as recently seen in the election results). - --- MAP posted-by: Derek