Pubdate: Sat, 19 May 2012
Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Nanaimo Daily News
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608

HERE'S AN IDEA JUST CRAZY ENOUGH TO WORK

The solution is so simple, we can't believe it hasn't been suggested
before: Outlaw cigarettes and legalize pot.

While health-care professionals and organizations continue to put the
squeeze on the handful of smokers who still exist in the world, we
have a call from another segment of society that wants the freedom to
spark up a joint without fear of prosecution.

Since the medical community has been fairly unanimous on the scourge
of tobacco, it seems logical that the only reason it hasn't yet been
outlawed is because the government makes too much money from the taxes.

If we found out today that drinking milk could cause lung cancer, by
tomorrow you couldn't find a jug on a grocery store shelf anywhere.

So why do we put up with the death toll of cigarettes? Money, of
course. To be fair, there are a lot of restrictions on buying and
selling cigarettes. You have to be 18 or 19 (depending on the
jurisdiction) to even buy them.

If you are of age and decide to buy a pack, you are going to spend the
better part of $10 to purchase them, only to set them on fire.

If you still go ahead and buy them, they'll have some grotesque photo
and a warning label about how they are likely to kill you, slowly but
surely.

Still want to have that smoke? Good luck finding a place to do it. You
can't smoke in public places inside or out in this city; most of your
friends likely won't invite you over a second time if you light up;
and doing it in the car can get you fined if there happens to be
someone under 18 sitting next to you.

All of this and you still have the stigma of being a "smoker" if you
choose to partake.

What if you want to sell cigarettes? There are restrictions on who you
can sell them to, how you can advertise them and the events you can
promote as a sponsor.

It's almost like no one wants your product or your
money.

Except the government, which gets a big, fat chunk of the $10 charged
for each pack.

Cigarettes are bad for your health and everyone knows it. (Even if you
can't accept that fact, you can at least acknowledge they aren't good.)

So let's do away with them. Outlaw them. Banish them and save
countless people from dying a painful, wasting death.

But what about all that government money?

Pot. Legalize, package it and tax it.

Don't think we can replace the tobacco tax revenue with marijuana
revenue? This will be the most successful new product to hit store
shelves since . . . well, since ever.

Do you know what people are paying for marijuana these days? Well, of
course no one will admit to having that inside knowledge, but per
gram, let's just say it's more than tobacco.

Quality, availability and the safety of purchasing this product will
all improve. Criminal elements will be squeezed out by legitimate
producers and their strongmen, the Canadian government.

Jails will empty of small-time pot dealers and their customers.
Everyone will be happier, mellower and the government will gleefully
collect ever-increasing tax revenue, free from the guilt of
contributing to a cancer epidemic.

Of course, there are still questions about the safety of smoking pot
over the long term, it's affect on our brains, our productivity and,
don't forget, it's mostly ingested by smoking it.

On second thought, legalizing and taxing such a potentially dangerous
substance is just crazy.
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MAP posted-by: Matt