Pubdate: Sun, 12 Apr 2009 Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC) Copyright: 2009 Times Colonist Contact: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481 Author: Robert McInnes Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n392/a08.html POT BILL WORTH CONSIDERING I was delighted to learn of MP Keith Martin's private member's bill to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. I'm old enough to remember the U.S.'s prohibition of alcohol, with its rum-runners, bootleggers and gun-blazing gangsters. I'm not about to smoke pot -- my only mind-altering drug is caffeine - -- but I've come to realize that the U.S.-style "war on drugs" is just as big a disaster as some of their other wars. Recently, several Latin American leaders have said that the U.S.'s war on drugs was killing their people and it was time for a new direction -- harm reduction. Martin's bill is a small first step in the right direction for Canada. Robert McInnes Victoria - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom