Pubdate: Tue, 04 Apr 2000
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2000 Southam Inc.
Contact:  300 - 1450 Don Mills Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3R5
Fax: (416) 442-2209
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Author: Marc-Boris St-Maurice, Founder, The Marijuana Party and the Bloc 
Pot party of Quebec, Montreal.

POT POL

As the leader of Quebec's pro-marijuana political party, the Bloc Pot, I 
was overjoyed to read your April 1 editorial titled Time to Legalize Pot. 
Despite all the hope this article generates that the day will come when 
cannabis is as legitimate as a mixed drink or cafe latte, I am still of the 
opinion that this is not about to happen soon.

Granted, some of our elected representatives have realized there is 
political capital to be gained by taking up this cause. Their motives seem 
sincere, their reasons are logical, they propose various private bills and 
yes, they even get their party to adopt an official position. For all the 
posturing, however, nothing gets done.

The real problem is there is no political will to seriously adopt a policy 
of decriminalization. The powerful industrial and military lobbies that 
profit directly from marijuana prohibition can generate resistance and 
prevent more comprehensive legislation from passing. This is compounded by 
Canada's obligations toward international treaties that require a 
repressive policy toward drugs.

The Bloc Pot sprung on to the Quebec scene in 1998. We ran 24 candidates on 
the exclusively pro-marijuana reform platform and received almost 10,000 
votes. We intend to run in the federal elections as the Marijuana Party. 
The government had its chance to do something about it. Now the Marijuana 
Party plans to take the issue straight to the ballot box.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D