Marijuana Financing Other Criminal Activities

According to this article in the Winnipeg Sun the RCMP believes that money from the sale of Canadian marijuana is financing other illicit activities. Now I have no doubt about this, this is very true, the question is how to stop it. There are two ways to stop do so; one would have zero effect, in fact it may exacerbate the situation; the other would do much to reduce the crimes being financed by the marijuana trade.

Method #1: Crack down on marijuana growth.
Start an all out US style drug war in Canada and root out these "evil" marijuana growers. We all know how stellar the US drug war is going and how effective the DEA is at stopping the drug trade in the US.

A drug war in Canada would serve no purpose but to drive the marijuana producers further underground and making the marijuana growers look at protecting their crop by using armed guards and and shooting people who trespass, much the same as big time marijuana growers do in the States. A war on drugs cannot be won, because it is a war against the people, The people are always stronger. If you doubt this look at the Ipperwash situation, a small number of natives took over the park, and now the government is handing it over to them. How does a government expect to win against a force as large as the marijuana users and growers of Canada when they can't handle a hand full of natives?

Method #2: Legalize marijuana and regulate it.
Legalization would turn marijuana growth into a reputable business, I have no doubt that big business, probably the tobacco industry, would gladly step up to the plate and begin growing vast quantities of marijuana to help pay for their losses due to fewer smokers. And while big business generally are not shining beacons of honesty and integrity, especially tobacco, they are also not likely to tote guns and shoot clients who try to rip them off.