Pubdate: Fri, 15 Dec 2017
Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
Copyright: 2017 The StarPhoenix
Contact:  http://thestarphoenix.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
Author: Ken Sailor
Page: A11

PROHIBITING POT HAS BEEN HISTORIC FAILURE

Re: Rogue nations need not apply (SP, Nov. 18)

Pamela McColl's letter is legally correct, but morally and practically
wrong.

While Canada did sign the various treaties that constitute the
worldwide prohibition of drugs, that prohibition has been a
spectacular failure. After being banned for 70 years, prohibited drugs
are more plentiful, cheaper, and more widely used than ever before.

While McColl fears for our children because of the legalization of
marijuana, she might look at the jurisdiction that has had the longest
history of re-legalized access to marijuana.

In the Netherlands, where marijuana has been legally available for 40
years, children use it at less than a third the rate our children do.

In Colorado, the new taxes raised from marijuana sales are used for
education: not drug education, but improving schools and school
programs. What might happen to our adolescent drug use rates if our
children had better libraries, music and sports programs?

Based on the facts, it is easier to argue that prohibition encourages
drug use rather than the opposite.

Right now, children are the distributors of marijuana to children -
and why should they work a minimum-wage job when they can make money
selling marijuana?

Prohibition was a grand experiment, but it failed.

The time has long passed when we should move on, and good for Canada
for legalizing marijuana.

Ken Sailor, Saskatoon
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MAP posted-by: Matt