Dear editor,
Three reasons why you should vote to decriminalize marijuana:
If people are of age to drink, smoke cigarettes and pot, they should be able to go to the liquor store to make those purchases. I would even add buying lottery tickets there.
Why should pot dealers make all the money, when it could be going toward our health care and education systems and, of course, to those who are vulnerable?
Let's put real drug dealers in jail, and let the RCMP have access to funding to do so.
Our world changed in the '90s. Computers made their way into our homes, people around the world started to quit smoking and, while that's a good thing, people still smoke today. What many of us don't realize is, while cigarette companies sold fewer cigarettes, our government stopped receiving the revenue it used to make when more people smoked.
Whether many of us like it or not, people are smoking pot and will continue to do so. We need to free up the RCMP to deal with real criminals and not tie up our court system.
As for people who say we don't want to see marijuana taxed, here is some good news:
What is the profit margin on an ounce of pot? If you pay $200 an oz., the dealer is making the profit. How is that benefitting you as a taxpayer?
We need to take all these pot growers and turn them into honest taxpayers. If we decriminalize, we could use the regulations the federal government has now, tax it and put the money to good use.
More importantly, we would have taken pot out of children's reach. Make it law that if you supply booze, cigarettes, liquor or marijuana to our children, we'll see you in 10 years when you get out of jail.
To sign the Sensible BC petition requesting a referendum to decriminalize marijuana, contact me at lagrosse@telus.net or visit my Facebook page.
Eddie Lagrosse
Official canvasser, Sensible BC
Port Hardy