Pubdate: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 Source: Lethbridge Herald (CN AB) Copyright: 2003 The Lethbridge Herald Contact: http://www.mysouthernalberta.com/leth/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/239 Author: Bruce Symington NEW POT LAWS LIKE PROHIBITION OF THE 1920S Editor: Imagine, if you can, the situation relative to alcohol prohibition in the last century. The negative fallout was vast and included children having easy access to alcohol, blindness and other physical damage from contaminated booze, the switch from beer and wine to spirits because bootleggers could make more money with spirits, a breakdown in the relationship between citizens and police, speakeasies that sold booze at all hours, thereby rendering people unfit to work the next day, and the involvement of the criminals in production and distribution. Now, imagine if the laws had been changed so that possession of alcohol would have resulted in just a fine but production and distribution would have been more heavily penalized. What would have been the result? Would the gangsters have stopped producing? No. Would kids have had a harder time getting it? No. Would the quality have been upgraded? No. Would people have stopped going blind? No. Would citizens have become more trusting of the cops? No. Would the price have risen, thereby robbing the families of drinkers even more? Yes. The repeal of prohibition of alcohol and its regulation, control and taxation have resulted in less personal and societal damage, better relationships with the authorities, fewer health problems and taken the production and distribution out of the hands of the gangsters. The minor tweaking of the penalties for cannabis use and the increase of penalties for production and sale will not solve any of the problems inherent in the prohibition model. Only legalization, regulation and taxation will. As to the production by the home gardener, it will be comparable to the people who make their own beer. A few do but most people are unable or unwilling to do so, and simply buy a known product at the local retailer when they want it. When cannabis is relegalized, as it surely will be, a few people will still grow their own, but most will buy, only then they will buy a known product from legitimate business people and pay taxes by so doing, unlike now, when consumers buy from criminals and pay no taxes. BRUCE SYMINGTON Medicine Hat - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake