Pubdate: Fri, 14 Jun 2002 Source: Scarborough Mirror, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2002 The Scarborough Mirror Contact: http://www.communitynewsroom.com/to/scarborough/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2198 Author: Wayne Phillips Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) LIFT WEED BAN Re: 'Police seize $3.5 million in marijuana,' News, June 5. Lost amid the barrage of grow-ops, raids remains the fact that prohibition vitalizes the black market because it enriches organized crime. It is incomprehensible why any government -- who could take effective measures to remove the profit factor from grow operations by either reclassifying cannabis or removing it from the Controled Drug and Substances Act entirely -- doesn't. Some would have you believe that if the government moves in the direction of a liberal cannabis initiative, it will send out a message that it condones its use. It will not; government will simply be recognizing there are more effective means it is prepared to initiate to better cope with the reality of cannabis usage in contemporary society. Wayne Phillips - --- MAP posted-by: Ariel