Pubdate: Sat, 26 Jan 2008
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2008 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: David Lane

TWO APPROACHES

The solution for Afghanistan is simple, but requires our leaders to 
have the courage and intelligence to make the needed changes. The 
solution is twofold:

* Allow Afghans to legally grow and sell cannabis. Afghan hash was 
once well known as a top shelf product. The economic distortions 
caused by the war on drugs makes it more profitable for them to 
produce the most dangerous and addictive drugs.

* Purchase all the opiates they can grow, at market prices, in a 
legal market for use to produce products to be sold in legal 
regulated markets to any adults who want them, with the appropriate 
warnings and dosage listed.

Simply purchasing the opium and destroying it would be a major step 
forward and would cost much less than is currently spend trying to 
eradicate the crop.

David Lane,

Santa Cruz, California
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom