Pubdate: Fri, 09 Nov 2001
Source: Daily News, The (CN NS)
Copyright: 2001 The Daily News
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/halifax/dailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/179
Author: Stephen Kimber, Daily News

WHEN WILL THE HAZE CLEAR?

Is There Anybody Left Who Doesn't Want To Decriminalize Pot?

How is it that one baby step on the long and winding road from reefer 
madness to some semblance of soft-drug sanity has been transformed into a 
giant leap for all mankind?

It has been nearly 80 years since Canada first banned the sale and 
consumption of marijuana under the 1923 Opium and Drug Act and nearly 30 
since a royal commission revisited the issue and recommended reversing that 
decision.

Where are we now?

Well, consider that most adult Canadians younger than 60 have at least 
tried marijuana, that most of us inhaled, that many of those who did so 
enjoyed it enough to do it more than once and that a good number of good 
Canadians -- 1.5 million of us, according to the estimate of the Canadian 
Medical Association -- continue to smoke it now and again without ill 
effect ... unless, of course, they happen to be among the 25,000 Canadians 
arrested each year for simple possession of marijuana.

Even the right-wing Fraser Institute says Canada's war on drugs has been a 
costly, ineffective and abysmal -- if you'll pardon the expression -- bust.

The Economist, the respected British-based magazine of international 
business and economics, would agree. It recently went so far as to lay out 
a compelling case for eventually legalizing all drugs.

According to one recent poll conducted by the University of Lethbridge, 47 
per cent of Canadians -- nearly half of us -- now favour the outright 
legalization of marijuana.

So why all the fuss about Canadian Alliance MP Keith Martin's private 
members' bill to "decriminalize" marijuana possession?

Instead of ending up -- as 600,000 Canadians already have -- with a 
criminal record that could land you in jail for up to five years and bar 
you from becoming a doctor, lawyer, architect or other professional simply 
because you got caught with a joint or two, Martin's proposed law would 
make smoking up a civil rather than criminal offence with fines of up to 
$1,000 instead of jail time as the penalty for getting caught.

It's a start, but a ridiculously small and tentative one.

The list of those who favour decriminalization is long and diverse. The 
Canadian Medical Association, which concluded that the health effects of 
moderate marijuana use are "minimal," supports decriminalization. As does 
the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, which argues that busting 
ordinary people for small quantities ties up scarce police resources that 
could be put to better use catching real criminals.

Many politicians, including Progressive Conservative Leader Joe Clark, have 
already climbed aboard the decriminalization bandwagon. And both of the 
Liberal cabinet ministers whose portfolios would be most affected -- 
Justice Minister Anne MacLellan and Health Minister Allan Rock -- have 
mused openly about the need for a public debate on the issue.

Given all of that -- and the reality that polls show 65 per cent of 
Canadians favour decriminalization -- the wonder really is that Martin's 
bill isn't government legislation. And that it doesn't go much further in 
recognizing reality.

Ah, well, perhaps when the haze clears ...
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