The Surrey Board of Trade’s position on the issue of legalization of marijuana (or any other substance) is simply irrelevant, because a bureaucracy should not have the power to dictate the availability of products to the people.
The laws of supply and demand do that just fine.
From the dawn of time, humanity used all kinds of psychedelic substances for a variety of reasons. The demand for them always was and will always remain. Just like demand for alcohol.
In a free nation, each one of us is personally responsible for our body. Each one of us (excluding a small mentally ill minority) ultimately decides to smoke or not to smoke, and to drink alcohol or not.
No matter what “good intentions” the bureaucrats might have when they attempt to “save us from drugs,” the history of actual results of such attempts always lead to state tyranny and horrible waste of tax money.
Prohibition can only reduce the use of a given substance temporarily, at an immense cost to personal liberty and property that, in the end, is much higher to the people than the initial good intentions can justify.
The recreational use of pot, just like recreational use of alcohol, is not a problem.
The abuse of any substance is a problem, but this problem is personal and can never be resolved by carpet bombing everyone with expensive and unenforceable laws.
The “war on drugs” has failed miserably in all places that have attempted it.
It creates more crime than it prevents.
All drugs should be legalized to prevent giving the police force an incentive to make money by punishing people for harmless recreational use of drugs.
The board of trade would serve the public much better if it sticks to expanding business and cutting red tape instead of regulating the personal choices of individuals.
David Simonov
North Delta