Why Advocates Say Marijuana Should Be Legalized

In his Torbay home, Mike Dawe slides open an end-table drawer, pulls out a Mason jar and rolls a joint.

There are no additives like tobacco. The marijuana - weed or pot as it is most commonly called - is grown by Dawe with an ardent dedication to craftsmanship.

As Dawe, a rail-thin man who stands an inch shy of seven feet, takes The Telegram on a tour of the basement of the house he rents, he apologizes, saying the current plants are not his best crop.

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On Thursday morning, news broke that Port aux Basques RCMP had seized a large quantity of marijuana and ecstasy from a house in Port aux Basques.

The story posted to The Gulf News website went slightly viral, at least in local terms, gathering over four thousand hits in a few hours. Few stories get that many hits in a week.

It shows the interest and the concern people have in our community about illicit drugs.

It's no secret that many in our society see marijuana as a relatively harmless recreation drug. Even some of those leaving comments on our web story said marijuana needs to be legalized while criticizing those who sell ecstasy. The federal Liberals passed a motion to legalize pot at their recent convention.

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