Pubdate: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB) Copyright: 2012 Winnipeg Free Press Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/send_a_letter Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n044/a01.html Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n044/a02.html Page: A11 Author: Ron Charach WORSE THAN DRUGS Re: Legalize weed, Grit delegates say (Jan. 16). If the Liberals are talking about legalizing marijuana, it is because the Conservatives' wrongheaded Bill C-10 has forced them to. The spectre of this government upping Canada's incarceration rate during a time of actually declining crime is simply too much. It can only mean the Harper government is setting its sights on First Nations peoples, immigrants who run afoul of the new laws of their adopted country, soft drug users, and, yes, "radicals" who fail to fall in line with their new agenda. Soft drugs aren't very good for people's brains, but they are not nearly as bad for overall health as doing jail time. Ron Charach Toronto - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart