Top cops call for legal marijuana

Four former Attorneys General have written to British Columbia Premier Christy Clark recommending that she lobby the federal government to legalize marijuana.

British Columbia has a major drug-cultivation scene and the underground marijuana economy would make pot the province's biggest money-maker if it were to be legalized, taxed, and regulated.

The four are certainly not the first government insiders to make such a call. Four former Vancouver mayors have also called for legalization. It's been obvious to all concerned for at least two generations that the "war on drugs" is a lost cause.

Legalization, taxation, and regulation would bring the business out of the hands of the gangs and into the mainstream. Less gang involvement means less crime, which means hundreds of millions saved in prison, policing, and court costs.

Taxation means hundreds of millions in new revenues for governments at evey level. Where is the downside in this scenario?

Alas, something so sensible isn't likely to get the thumbs-up from the law-and-order guys in Ottawa. Any measure that would reduce the need for cops and prisons isn't going to see the light of day in the Harper era.