Pubdate: Sun, 29 Mar 2015
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.torontosun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://torontosun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author: David Pankhurst
Note: Parenthetical remark by the Sun editor.

LEGALIZE POT

Legalize marijuana to benefit society: It's been at least 30 years
since the respected British magazine, The Economist, and many others,
presented rational arguments for legalizing marijuana.

There has finally been some global movement in this direction, and
we hope Canada will soon follow. Prohibition doesn't work - it simply
encourages crime. Marijuana is widely available anyway, so let's have
all society reap the financial benefits. There would be a huge boost
and "fiscal dividend" for our economy: Significant increases in tax
revenues; significant reductions in legal costs - including fewer
law-enforcement officers, fewer public lawyers, fewer court cases,
fewer prisons and related administrations.

Think of all the productive uses this financial windfall could be 
applied toward. National debt could be paid down, tax rates could fall, 
money would be available for infrastructure, etc. The benefits clearly 
outweigh the costs. This is an easy decision.

David Pankhurst

Toronto

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(Legalizing pot will create its own problems. The issue is whether
those problems will be worse or not as bad as the problems we have
now)
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MAP posted-by: Matt