Pubdate: Sun, 15 Sep 2002
Source: Daily News, The (CN NS)
Copyright: 2002 The Daily News
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/halifax/dailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/179
Author: David Rodenhiser,The Daily News
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

DON'T FEAR THE REEFER

A Progressive Government Would Support Legalizing Pot

Premier John Hamm and his government are far more conservative than 
progressive in shying away from a Senate committee's well-researched and 
reasoned report calling for the legalization of marijuana. I fear our 
Tories are lost in the haze of "reefer madness."

A week ago, Hamm refused to comment on the Senate report, and said cannabis 
should be legal only as a medication. Justice Minister Michael Baker 
sidestepped the question of repealing Canada's antiquated cannabis laws, 
calling it a matter for the federal government to decide.

However, the Senate report -- go to www.parl.gc.ca, then follow the links 
to committee reports -- recommends Ottawa hold a top-level conference with 
provincial and municipal leaders next year to establish a five-year action 
plan on drug policy.

As well, the report calls for the creation of a National Cannabis Board 
with federal and provincial representation. The board would monitor the 
production and sale of marijuana, and set tax levels on the narcotic. 
Provinces would also participate in developing prevention and treatment 
options for people who smoke too much pot.

So the Nova Scotia government could find itself pulled into the fray, like 
it or not, if the federal government heeds the Senate report. And it seems 
almost certain the feds will act in some way. On the very day that Hamm and 
Baker were avoiding the issue, federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon 
publicly stated that decriminalizing marijuana might be a "first step" in 
reforming drug laws. He promised to ready a new policy for early next year.

"To keep it the way it is now doesn't make any sense to me in the year 
2002," Cauchon said. "The legislation in place is sort of disconnected with 
Canadian reality."

Indeed, the Senate report estimates that as many as two million Canadians 
have smoked pot in the last year and up to 100,000 use it daily. Yet 
despite such wide acceptance, taxpayers spend about $500 million a year on 
drug enforcement against marijuana. Between 300,000 and 600,000 Canadians 
are shackled with criminal records for simple possession of the sweet leaf. 
Police make 20,000 new arrests each year.

All this wasted effort over a plant that is far less addictive than alcohol 
or tobacco, and not nearly as bad for your health. An herb that at its best 
makes you happy and horny, and at its worst makes you mildly paranoid and 
sleepy.

This futile war against Canada's own citizens -- including Nova Scotians -- 
should be a matter of concern for the Hamm government. It's consuming 
precious provincial tax dollars for policing and corrections that could be 
better spent on hospitals and schools, or at least on fighting real crime.

Heck, what better way to deal a blow to organized criminals than to hand 
the lucrative marijuana trade to struggling farmers and licensed merchants?

Of course, the official police position -- as repeated by Halifax Regional 
Police spokesman Sgt. Don Spicer -- is that marijuana is a "gateway drug." 
Cops use that phrase to perpetuate the myth that pot somehow compels users 
to try harder drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, peyote and Colorado toad venom.

But pot is a "gateway drug" to crack in the same way shoplifting is a 
gateway crime to bank robbery, and guppies are a gateway pet to piranhas. 
One doesn't naturally lead to the other, thanks to free will and common 
sense. The police know that, and so do our provincial politicians.

The federal government will loosen marijuana laws in the next few years, 
and a progressive premier would seize the day and prepare a strategy to 
exploit the financial potential. New regulatory and monitoring agencies 
will need a home. Agricultural opportunities outside of Flin Flon 
mineshafts will become available.

But even more fundamentally, the Nova Scotia government has a duty to 
champion the freedom of Nova Scotians. As the Senate report eloquently 
explains, Ottawa has no business trying to "impose a particular way of life 
on people."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom