Re: “Prohibition won’t stop teen pot use.”
I read with interest Evan Woods’ letter in the May 8 edition of The Leader and just had to say something.
We hear the same old explanations for legalization all the time – how liquor prohibition didn’t work, how gang violence is increasing, how teens seek the “forbidden fruit” and all these points are true, but there are other things to consider.
Alcohol and tobacco are currently legal and regulated and yet teens do seek them out along with pot. If pot was regulated then the use would continue, but using Woods’ argument about forbidden fruit, you would see a definite increase in the use of other drugs.
Legalizing drugs like meth or ecstasy cannot happen because they are in fact dangerous chemical cocktails and so should remain illegal.
Gangs by the way did not put down their guns and violence when alcohol prohibition ended, did they? Even if all drugs were legal, gangs would still be around making money on gambling scams, extortion, human trafficking, identity theft, etc. They would just ramp up these other things to make up for lost profits in pot sales.
The way things are now, simple possession is ignored unless it is for dealing, and dealers are criminalized. This is how it should be.
Many voices are calling for the legalization of pot. One wonders, are these people on drugs?
Ken Cornelis, Surrey
The myths of ending marijuana prohibition
Re: “Eight mayors echo call for marijuana reform.”
Hallelujah! After four former B.C. attorneys general have joined four former Vancouver mayors endorsing an end to marijuana prohibition, eight sitting B.C. mayors have now “echoed” the clarion call for marijuana reform.
Legalize, regulate and tax pot and presto - gang-related violent crime in our communities and fear among our citizens would disappear.
But wait, that’s not all. The collateral benefit of a “potted” Canada will be of having solved, virtually overnight, Canada’s problem of declining tourism from south of the border and elsewhere.
Just think of the enormous tourism potential of a mass influx of drug-deprived folks descending on the “True North, Strong and Free and Legally Drugged,” pouring untold millions of much-needed dollars into our struggling economy... with many undoubtedly wishing to stay permanently.
Indeed, that’s the kind of “stimulus” (pun intended) that would really help us all get through these hard economic times with a “buzz.”
On a less euphoric note, however, the myths and fallacies of ending marijuana prohibition are many. Here are just two, as outlined by the Canadian Police Association:
Myth #1: Legalization will drive the crime rate down.
Myth #2 Organized crime would be reduced if drugs were legalized.
While the proponents of marijuana legalization may consider the above mere “police propaganda,” I would nevertheless join Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts in challenging them to provide us with a view of whatever “reality” they are coming from.
E.W. Bopp, Tsawwasssen