U.S. law enforcement professionals say Americans becoming more progressive than Canada on drug policy

Tough on crime Americans are urging Canadian lawmakers to lighten-up on drug offenders.

In an open letter released to media Wednesday, two dozen former U.S. law enforcement professionals are asking Stephen Harper to reconsider passage of Bill C-10 which would impose minimum sentences for marijuana and drug offences.

"The Canadian government believes the answer is to get tougher on criminals," notes the letter released to media Wednesday.

"But as we've learned with our decades-long failed experiment with the 'war on drugs,' the stricter sentencing proposed in the bill will only serve to help fill jails. It will not reduce harms related to the illicit marijuana trade, make Canadian streets safer or diminish gang activity.

The letter, distributed by Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), also suggests that marijuana policies in the Unites States have become much more progressive than those in Canada.

"Sixteen US states and the District of Columbia have passed laws allowing some degree of medical use of marijuana, and 14 states have taken steps to decriminalize marijuana possession," claims the letter.

"Similarly, there are several planned initiatives to overturn marijuana prohibition for the 2012 election in the United States. Specifically, Washington State, California, and Colorado, are all preparing to have ballot initiatives in 2012."

This letter comes just days after four former attorneys general in British Columbia called for the repeal of Canada's marijuana prohibition laws, saying they had done nothing but fuel organized crime and gang violence.

But don't expect the Conservatives to change their mind anytime soon.

In December, Stephen Harper defended his government's policy on maintaining Canada's prohibition of marijuana.

"This government doesn't favour the legalization of drugs," he told a consortium of ethnic media in Vancouver.

"Drugs are not bad because they're illegal. They're illegal because they are bad. They are corrosive to society. They're part of worldwide criminal and sometimes even terrorism networks and they do terrible things to people."