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*Pecagranh U1.of the Excise’ Tin (Act is pabbohad cosh
Wsdctay, Fi arnt Suruy by North Shore Free Press Lt
“apa dotrinsad ix every door on the North Shore, Canada fest

*“yangers had ‘co
10_ feet of a; mother’ ‘bear’ and her cub —

Welfare
funding
unfair |

Dear Editor:

Last February, . the ND
provincial government came:
-out with a program: that took’:
$46 off all single working per-:
sons’ welfare cheques. ,

Half of this money wa:
marked for helping single Pp

, ents on welfare and the othe
half was supposed to be: used ;
” for individuals on welfare who
were still unemployed: The
funding -was., supposed ,
ining ;.and” job.
finding assistance.:*’
‘have been on, wi f a

ively
should scl for this |

we FIRST. WAINIGIERS POSE FoR THER
. OFFICIAL PORTRAIT:

. S

‘ money. set aside fo
over the age. of 24

“", Dbelie

welfare ‘should be “ treate

price

out: -all toc often, the. North Sore. mountains : !

5 te not a:theme: park.

Beyond established: niking and: ‘ski trails
lies wilderness. *°

The real: McCoy. : bet

lA place wiiere Mother. Nature does riot suf.

4 fer fools gladly...

Across ‘park visitors

doubtless seeking. ‘a! photo opportunity ‘or
communing nature, city-folk style.
The results could, have been tragic,

CANADA Day’ s
Smoke-in at Sunset
Beach in Vancouver _
~ highlighted once more
‘the ongoing battle <o
decriminalize personal
use of marijuana.

* teonfess Lhave few direct
“qualifications for discussing the ©
x issue — my own addictions -
having been limited to civilized
doses of white wine and (until
; * Cold ‘Turkey, Day, 1993) filter-tip cancer sticks.
: However, I've'at least met my full share of -
“ potheads, sone closer to home than needed. :
Many of them charming people and most of *
hem — when stoned - -— as harmlessly stupid as
pet rabbits. :

a during the winter, the foolhar

“ poured into the effort, ‘police are able to’shut
‘down only a small percentage of the total crimi-
nal activity generated. So whi t other, solutions
are'there? !
. One’is Draconian pu ishment, as’ ini .
Singapore: and Indonesia; where possessing a sin-

Wild-aniinals are part. of that wil derness
‘They.tco do not. suffe cols gladly.

- Human n proximity, neetalty to
spring, is: ‘recipe for’ an. urban- wilderness :

confrontation whose initial loser would be'the,,

urban intruder. The result: park closure.:
But, like the danger signs posted for:skiers.

ywill defy: it.

At their own. n peril.

“stores at less thai its illegal if i
“ which should quickly end pot- related fine, Thi i
* Netherlands (pop..15.5 million), wh
openly sold at “market” na for personal use has been allowed sinc
price, everyone could afford “1975, reportedly has fewer pot-smo
them without robbing banks”. = B.C.
or mugging old ladies. Inthe ‘The ‘second solution in the long’ term far
case of “hard” drugs with ‘dis- more effective than any amount of punish
astrous results for society. 1., ‘alone — is ongoing PUBLIC EDUCATION.
hasten to add. 2. )"The success of Operation Counter-Attac
- As itis, we have an hor over-20 years in reducing drunk driving
’ . réndous amount of crime _slashi ng: of Canada's smoker .
oy associated with drug addic- to. 25%.in 1995 prove beyond “doubt that su
“tion and its suppliers. Yet iained public education works. ©
despite untold millions ‘It makes no sense to persecute individual
smokers and squander policé’resources on th
unnecessarily illegal market while thos
‘equivalent drug: arettes: and alcohol; remai
. perfectly legals”.
Using the money ‘sayed on hunting‘ pothead
-to teach society over the next decade, the’

of drugs i is the direct result of -
‘those drugs being illegal.
{f-they. were freely and

In short arijuana in n itself i is no more harm-."
ful than legal. alcohol or tébacco. But like all ’-

! | illegal drugs it costs money, which could Jate

“ some addicts to, steal; and eventually it may ‘lead
isers to-try cocaine, crack, heroin, ‘ete — cost-,
“ing much more and thus greatly increasing the”.
ikelihood of crime in order to sustain the addic?
ion... oe
The reverse of the coin, “however, i is equally |
mpossible to ignore.’As was the case with, if

; booze dur 2g. the prohibition era, the © nish e price :

gle ounce. of pot-can get: you hanged. But that
> would never play, of course, in humane Canada,
where the only alternative — life terms infinite-
ly more costly, to, the public than the noose, —

wouid be ‘another strong argument for’ at. least: -,

“legalizing marijuana. ° on are
-Decriminalizing pot ‘would release ‘millions .
of deéllars and a much greater police effort to

- grapple with the real ‘problem — “hard” drugs .”°

themselves and the massive crime they spawn.
Meanwhile, let marijuana, be sold i in liquor

oily of all drug. use is.a far better i

aqoao.
RAINY DAY FUND for West.Van’ Library
Canada's busiest — seeks $150,000 for, Pl
Internet access,’ putting hundreds.of. articles on

CD-ROM and fixing the, Elizabeth Ma:

Every doilar (or more) helps!
; GOOG.

"WRIGHT OR WRONG: We're bo

ears and one mouth. Surely | that tells us som