TRAFFICKERS PROTECTED

The Harper government will protect marijuana trafficking.

Such was the effect of the prime minister's response to leading
public officials in British Columbia who declared support for
decriminalization, regulation and even taxation of the marijuana industry.

The Conservative Party government will not only protect marijuana
traffickers whose profits derive from the risk of criminal sanctions,
it will bolster trade in illegal weapons used to protect or else
"'take out' marijuana industry competitors.

Continued criminal sanctions are presently being beefed up to
increase the criminal justice industry with its complement of police,
courts, lawyers and, of course, jails. This burgeoning industry is
funded with our taxes.

Mr. Harper declares that his government will repress marijuana use
among young people. That's not likely.

The histories of such prohibitions are replete with failure, not to
mention violence and waste.

Many Canadians, including many young people, are regular users of
legally controlled pharmaceuticals prescribed to alter mood and
behaviour. These products are taxed and are normally out of the
purview of the criminal justice industry.

Meanwhile an illegal industry, the trafficking of marijuana (a
mood-altering substance), is thriving with untaxed product movement
and its own internal regulation in recurrent gang warfare that now
routinely breaks out in our streets.

Mr. Harper's "'line in the sand' on marijuana is very disappointing
in a leader. Rather like the sand in his head.

Dave Cursons

Cawston