Pubdate: Wed, 18 Jul 2007
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2007 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n838/a05.html
Author: Alison Myrden

PREPOSTEROUS NOTION

Dan Gardner's summary is a nice illustration of what I learned during 
my career in law enforcement. And it also jibes with the shared 
experience of an increasing number of police, judges and other 
criminal justice professionals who make up the non-profit educational 
organization Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

More than 99 per cent of all drugs are legal, and for good reasons. 
This helps assure that both production and commercial distribution of 
risky drugs is regulated and monitored.

But when it comes to marijuana, both production and sales are 
consigned to the street. Because almost all street drug dealing is 
done outside of public scrutiny, asking cops to serve as the 
"control" is not only unreasonable, it is a preposterous notion. The 
only way we can reasonably control any drug distribution, including 
marijuana, is to make it legal so it's sensibly regulated.

Legal dealers do not knowingly market to minors. Nor do they 
knowingly employ minors in their operations. Legal drug dealers do 
not pose danger or violence to either citizens or to police.

Why are so many of our major policy makers insisting on leaving 
marijuana production and sales on the street?

Alison Myrden, Burlington

Member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom