Pubdate: Wed, 2 Oct 2002
Source: Fergus-Elora News Express (CN ON)
Copyright: 2002 Fergus-Elora News Express
Contact:  http://www.centrewellington.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2214

TO LEGALIZE OR NOT TO LEGALIZE - THAT IS THE QUESTION

The debate is on at very high levels - no pun intended. Canada is 
apparently drawing closer to legalizing marijuana.

Some people already have permission to consume the drug for medical 
reasons. It has some benefits in controlling the pain and nausea which 
often accompany chemotherapy. Migraine sufferers find relief in the drug, 
as do people with chronic pain from a variety of conditions. Their 
complaint is that while they can consume the drug legally, they are forced 
to buy it on the street.

People against legalization state the same pain-control benefits are 
available from prescription drugs. As long as physicians are willing to 
prescribe them is sufficient dosages to be effective, and make quality of 
life a priority, there should be no need to seek relief from an illegal 
drug purchased from criminals.

At the same time, it would make sense to conduct studies to determine the 
medical effectiveness of marijuana, compared to other treatments. And if we 
are going to provide marijuana to sick people, it would make sense to get 
some quality control involved. A fairly vociferous lobby group insists the 
only thing wrong with marijuana is growing it and selling it are against 
the law. They claim if people could grow, sell and consume it legally, it 
would not be a "gateway" drug which leads to worse drugs. Their theory is 
if people did not have to deal with criminals to get marijuana, they would 
not be exposed to the really bad drugs such as heroin. Then again, some 
people are in favour of legalizing - or at least decriminalizing - heroin, too.

Many Canadians are less accepting than they are pragmatic. The drug is 
widely used, and some of us feel it is time for our legal system to give in 
to the inevitable - stop trying to enforce laws which are basically 
unenforceable, slap a tax on the drug and make the government some money. 
It worked with gambling casinos. Many of us are angered that consuming a 
mild intoxicant, which is to the younger generation what alcohol is to the 
older generation, has earned thousands of people in this country criminal 
records. They want this changed, and to a large extent, it has been. People 
caught by police with a small quantity of the drug are routinely warned 
without being arrested. Simple possession these days means nothing more 
than a small fine.

More people might be in favour of legalizing marijuana and treating it like 
alcohol if there were a readily available test for it. A person driving 
erratically can be pulled off the road and lose his driver's licence if a 
simple breath test indicates consumption of too much alcohol. There is no 
simple roadside screening device for marijuana. While someone driving 
stoned on marijuana can be charged with impaired driving, the charge of 
driving with an excessive blood alcohol level is a lot easier to prove. 
Courts prefer, "Breathalyser readings were 180 and 190," to, "His eyes 
looked bloodshot and there was an odour in the car."

Most of us, particularly youngsters, know marijuana will not eat the brain 
and trigger instant depravity, as was portrayed in the old movie "Reefer 
Madness". But we also know it is not a completely benign, harmless drug.

Take a young person with poor impulse control and difficulty concentrating, 
get him high on marijuana, and you will get an individual with no impulse 
control and the learning capacity of a potato chip. This drug has no place 
behind the wheel, and certainly no place at school. As long as the drug 
remains illegal, the authorities have at least some leverage.

The final point goes back to quality control, or lack thereof. Smoking 
tobacco is recognized as a health hazard. Communities all over the province 
are enacting bylaws to ban smoking in public places. Meanwhile, the highest 
political body in the country (hopefully, no pun) wants to legalize smoking 
another leafy substance. Something is wrong with this picture.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D