Pubdate: Wed, 11 Jul 2001
Source: Quesnel Cariboo Observer (CN BC)
Copyright: 2001 Quesnel Cariboo Observer
Contact:  http://www.quesnelobserver.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1260
Author: Cam McAlpine

ERASE THE HYPOCRISY OF CRIMINALIZED MARIJUANA

It seems to me there are a lot of reasons why it is long past time that we 
decriminalized marijuana.

First of all, the disparity between the way we treat alcohol and the way we 
treat pot.

I would suggest that the Canada Day riots in Edmonton would not have 
happened had everybody been stoned rather than drunk.

Nor would a vast amount of property crime and domestic abuse.

Apparently, though, we as a society suffer from a leftover social morality 
in which we mistakenly accept that there is an unbroken line between 
marijuana and drugs such as heroine and cocaine, and that once we jump on 
that train, it is only a short trip from pot to PCP.

We make no such assumptions about alcohol, in spite of the fact that its 
addictive components have about as much chemical and psychological 
similarity to hard drugs as marijuana.

If you want the economic argument, just look at the recent statistics 
released by Vancouver's Organized Crime Agency.

They suggest that marijuana is now one of B.C.'s richest commodities. With 
an annual production valued at $6 billion, pot growers allegedly bring in 
more direct revenues than any of the traditional big-four: forestry, 
mining, manufacturing and agriculture.

That $6 billion figure is misleading, of course. The unit price of pot is 
held artificially high by the very fact that it is illegal. If it were to 
be legalized, that net price would drop considerably. The "retail" price 
likely wouldn't change much, of course, once the government got their tax 
accountants involved.

But at least the money would be going back into the system, rather than 
into the pockets of criminals and opportunists.

Which is another argument for decriminalization.

The "war on drugs" is self-perpetuating strategy that actually creates the 
very criminals it purports to fight.

There is a sustained demand for pot that shows little sign of abatement. By 
keeping marijuana illegal, that demand can only be satisfied through 
illicit means.

We, as a society, are therefore developing employment for a legion of 
criminals, rather than gainfully-employed individuals.

I realize that none of these arguments are without shortcomings. We, as a 
society, would be legally condoning yet another addictive substance.

We would be making money off the self-destructive behaviours of people who 
choose to use these substances.

The point is not, however, whether pot is good for you. It is, rather, how 
can we manage it so as to do the least harm to ourselves as individuals and 
as a society?

And, in the process, how can we erase some of the hypocrisy that currently 
surrounds the complex issue of drug use and abuse?

Cam McAlpine
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens