Pubdate: Mon, 19 Nov 2012 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2012 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Rob Brandreth-Gibbs Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n587/a03.html LET OTHERS PIONEER POT LIBERALIZATION FIRST Re: Decriminalization of pot in Canada is a sensible idea whose time has come, Barbara Yaffe column, Nov. 15, Another sensible idea would first let Washington and Colorado's recreational drug experience answer some critical questions before we commit ourselves to legal pot. Will displaced pot traffickers be forced to push more potent designer drugs? Will cannabis tourism overwhelm as it has in Amsterdam? Will the market prefer high-THC pot over the government-sanctioned version? Will pot's scientifically known toxicity to DNA, bodies and minds actually prove to be significantly harmful to the public? Will the streets register increased deaths and injury due to marijuana inebriation? Will more kids be induced to smoke? Will legalization force more contact with second-hand smoke? Will legalized marijuana sell for a lower price than its usual street price causing an increase in use? Will black-market pot sell for an even lower tax-free price causing a further increase in use? Will increased use result in higher justice and health costs? Will the social costs be greater than the marijuana tax revenue generated as it has for legal alcohol and tobacco? Will the cost of education and treatment programs be greater than the present cost of drug-related law enforcement as it has in the U.S.? Will drug violence overshadow death and debilitation from smoking? Perhaps "no" to all these questions. But we can let those American states pioneer this recreational drug experiment at their own social, health, legal and monetary expense before we embark on a similar course that surely has no return. And we can watch very closely. Our federal government has more than illicit marijuana industry profit margins and its associated violence to consider. It has a responsibility to the health and welfare of ordinary Canadian citizens and families as well. In other words, all those things above that self-proclaimed "Sensible People" would rather not, and never do, talk about. Rob Brandreth-Gibbs North Vancouver - --- MAP posted-by: Matt