Pubdate: Thu, 30 Aug 2007
Source: Nanaimo News Bulletin (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007, BC Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/948
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n993/a08.html
Author: George Kosinski

MARIJUANA PROHIBITION EXPENSIVE WASTE OF ENERGY

To the Editor,

Re: Police blowing smoke with PR effort, Aug. 25.

Assistant editor Mitch Wright referred to idiot criminals and it's
nice to see that not all editors are idiots.

Why marijuana prohibition should be immune from the normal strictures
of cost-benefit analyses is a mystery that may only be solved by
Martian anthropologists examining the remains of human civilizations,
long after we have completed the process of collaborating in the
destruction of our own species.

As an addendum to Mr. Wright's excellent analysis, it should be
pointed out - and it's surprising that this is essentially never
done in the mainstream media - that all the laws, police officers,
helicopters and nuclear weapons in the world cannot change the
pharmacological properties of marijuana that make it so popular.

And expecting people to stop being attracted by these properties by
claiming that a few users may experience some negative effects, has
about as much chance of success as expecting everybody to stop
drinking because some people become alcoholics.

The group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition has more than 9,000
members. I wonder how many of these police officers hunting for
marijuana have even bothered to check out its website.

George Kosinski

Gibsons
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake