Pubdate: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 Source: Surrey Leader (CN BC) Copyright: 2002 Surrey Leader Contact: http://www.surreyleader.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1236 Author: David Marsh Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) $1 BILLION, THE EASY WAY You could call it a bold leap into the 1960s. Except it's only a trial balloon. Canadian Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has mused publicly about relaxing the country's marijuana prohibition. The drug must remain illegal, but simple possession might be considered a non-criminal offence punishable by fines rather than jail, he said. Cauchon even admitted smoking a joint or two in his younger days, without even a Clintonesque 'I didn't inhale' disclaimer thrown in. Brave words perhaps, but it's only because Britain decided a week earlier that it would relax its possession laws that the Canadian government suddenly gets bold on the issue. That, and the fact that parliamentary committees in Ottawa are soon to release reports expected to recommend decriminalization. So, up goes the trial balloon. Media, interest groups and the public are gauged for reaction. And if the winds aren't too gusty, the bid could take off as soon as this fall. Well, hallelujah. But then there's that report by the B.C. Business Council released just a day or two after Cauchon's remarks. This study estimates that at least $20 billion is conducted in underground business, legal and illegal, every year in this province. Let's assume, very conservatively, that $2 billion of that is the trade of marijuana. And suppose that governments slapped a 50 per cent sin-tax on it - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager