Pubdate: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 Source: Langley Advance (CN BC) Copyright: 2004 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc. Contact: http://www.langleyadvance.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1248 Author: Russell Barth Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1336/a03.html?147558 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) DRUGS: LEGALIZATION THE ANSWER Dear Editor, If only there were some regulated retail outlet where adults could buy and use drugs instead of using the park, then many of the problems [Drugs take over City park, Sept. 17, Langley Advance News] would solve themselves. But no, the RCMP keep up the old school mantras of "harsher penalties" and "bigger budgets." The laws need to change so that drugs of all kinds can be regulated for use by responsible adults and taxed to pay for healthcare and education. All the evidence shows that crime and violence would decrease, much as what happened when alcohol prohibition ended. The Netherlands don't have these problems, because marijuana is sold in coffee shops, to adults. They also have a much lower number of drug users, and a lower crime rate. The alternative to legalization is higher taxes, more police funding, more jails and courthouses built instead of hospitals and schools, and who knows how many more years of a completely failed and corrupt drug war. Let's face it, if prohibition was going to work, it would have worked by now. Russell Barth, Ottawa - --- MAP posted-by: Derek