Pubdate: Fri, 05 Aug 2005
Source: Cochrane Times-Post (CN ON)
Copyright: 2005 Cochrane Times Post
Contact:  http://www.cochranetimespost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3833
Author: Robert Sharpe
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?218  (Canadian Senate Committee on 
Illegal Drugs)

RESPONDING TO MARIJUANA GROW OPERATIONS

Ontario's hazardous marijuana grow operations are a direct result of 
marijuana prohibition.

Legitimate farmers do not steal electricity to grow produce in the 
basements of rented homes. If legal, growing marijuana would be less 
profitable then farming tomatoes. As it stands, the drug war distorts 
market forces such that an easily grown weed is literally worth its weight 
in gold.

Rather than continue to subsidize organized crime, Canadian policy makers 
should ignore the reefer madness hysteria of the U.S. government and 
instead to look their own Senate for guidance. In the words of Senator 
Pierre Claude Nolin, "Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that 
cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated 
not as a criminal issue but as a social and public health issue."

Sincerely,

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom