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Toke This
Posted by CN Staff on May 05, 2003 at 09:08:49 PT
By Robert Sharpe
Source: Globe and Mail 
Washington -- Canadian Alliance MP Randy White seems to think the job of keeping drugs out of the hands of children is best left to organized crime (Canada's Marijuana Control Is Going Up In Smoke -- May 2). If Mr. White is truly concerned about "Canada's inability to control the marijuana issue," he'll join the Canadian Senate in calling for an end to marijuana prohibition. His comments regarding President George W. Bush suggest he is more interested in appeasing Canada's southern neighbour than implementing the will of the majority of Canadians who favour marijuana-law reform.
Telling examples of drug-war failure can be found very close to home. The U.S. is one of the few Western countries that uses its criminal justice system to punish citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis, yet lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the U.S. than in any European country. The short-term health effects of marijuana are inconsequential compared to the long-term effects of criminal records. Unfortunately, marijuana represents the counterculture to misguided reactionaries intent on legislating their version of morality.In subsidizing the prejudices of culture warriors, government is inadvertently subsidizing organized crime. The drug war's distortion of immutable laws of supply and demand make an easily grown weed worth its weight in gold. The only clear winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels and tough-on-drugs politicians who've built careers on confusing drug prohibition's collateral damage with a relatively harmless plant.Robert Sharpe, Program OfficerDrug Policy Alliance http://www.drugpolicy.org/ Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)Author: Robert SharpePublished: Monday, May 5, 2003 - Page A16 Copyright: 2003 The Globe and Mail CompanyContact: letters globeandmail.caWebsite: http://www.globeandmail.com/Related Article & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmCanada's Marijuana Control is Going Up in Smokehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16152.shtml
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