Ottawa messing up legal pot plan

I had to laugh when I saw the bit about Ottawa city planners trying to keep legal pot shops out of neighbourhoods “experiencing socio-economic stress,” which I suppose is government bafflegab for “poor.”

How did so much animus against pot arise in the first place? It was seen as a “poor folks’ drug” by rich white folks. The great and futile war on drugs was essentially a class war: The judiciary and cops were mere soldiers in that war to keep poor folks down.

So now that the war is over, and the value of marijuana is finally recognized by even the densest government stooges, city planners want to make sure only “advantaged” neighbourhoods can have it legally. The poor can buy dime bags from illegal dispensaries (your local two-bit dealer) thus defeating the purpose of legalizing pot.

If planners are at all interested in saving the poor from alcoholism or worse, if they want to effectively shut down the illegal trade, they will have to make marijuana accessible and affordable, rather than the reverse.

Jack Pyl, Ottawa