Pubdate: Thu, 01 Aug 2002 Source: Mirror (CN QU) Copyright: 2002 Communications Gratte-Ciel Ltee Contact: http://www.montrealmirror.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/267 Author: Robert Sharpe Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1360/a12.html CHRONIC INJUSTICE Justice Minister Martin Cauchon is to be commended for making the case for marijuana decriminalization ["Quebec's happy stoners," July 18]. Jailing citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis is not a good use of tax dollars. There is no evidence that punitive marijuana laws do anything other than burden otherwise law-abiding Canadians with criminal records. Consider the experience of the United States, the former land of the free and current record holder in citizens incarcerated. Based on findings that criminal records are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents, a majority of European Union countries have decriminalized marijuana. Despite draconian penalties and perhaps because of forbidden fruit appeal, lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the U.S. than any European country. The latest drug war fiasco to come out of the U.S. is "compassionate coercion." This expansion of zero tolerance does not distinguish between occasional use and chronic abuse. Jail sentences and open-ended drug testing will be applied exclusively to consumers of non-traditional drugs like marijuana. Alcoholics and nicotine addicts need not worry about President George W. Bush's legendary "compassion." Marijuana prohibition is not based on health outcomes, but rather cultural norms. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Simply put, marijuana represents the counterculture to misguided reactionaries intent on legislating their version of morality. Canada should follow the lead of Europe and Just Say No to the American Inquisition. The results of a comparative study of European and U.S. rates of drug use can be found at: www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/espad_pr.pdf - -Robert Sharpe, M.P.A., Program Officer, Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, DC - --- MAP posted-by: Alex