Pubdate: Sat, 05 Mar 2005 Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) Copyright: 2005 Calgary Herald Contact: http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66 Author: Jodie Giesz-Ramsay OUST CRIMINALS Illegality - Following the terrible tragedy in Alberta on Thursday, Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan stated that the Liberal marijuana decriminalization proposal must be reviewed and changed to hand out harsher penalties to growers. However, stricter prohibition and heavier penalties only generate massive illegal profit for criminals, who are willing to take great risks to make that bundle of tax-free cash. Alcohol was a massive moneymaker for the gangsters during liquor prohibition, just as marijuana cultivation is extremely profitable under the tough drug laws we have now. If marijuana were as common as peanuts or daisies, there would be no incentive for organized crime to grow and distribute it. Legalizing and regulating marijuana will eliminate the problems associated with organized crime. There would be no reason to protect grow ops with guns and violence if they were controlled properly with no risk of arrest, jail time, break-ins, seizure of property or other consequences of growing an illegal substance. It's time to get rid of organized drug crime by cutting off its largest means of funding: illegal, mass-scale marijuana cultivation. Remember, the end of liquor prohibition ended the illegal liquor trade, which shut down the gangs and criminal activity of the 1920s. Make marijuana legal and watch the problems disappear. Jodie Giesz-Ramsay, Vancouver