Pubdate: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 Source: National Post (Canada) Copyright: 2002 Southam Inc. Contact: http://www.nationalpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286 Forum: http://forums.canada.com/~nationalpost Author: Robert Sharpe Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n443/a10.html JUST SAY NO The Canadian Medical Association is to be commended for making the case for marijuana decriminalization (Canadian Doctors Want Marijuana Decriminalized, March 12). There is no evidence that zero tolerance actually decreases use. Based on findings that criminal records do more harm than marijuana, a majority of European Union countries have decriminalized soft drugs such as marijuana. Despite harsh penalties and perhaps because of forbidden fruit appeal, lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the United States than in any European country. While Canada increasingly favours sensible public health approaches to drugs, the culture wars are heating up in the United States. President Bush is now pushing "compassionate coercion" for users of non-traditional drugs, with millions of cannabis smokers the likely target of his "compassion." Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused, but arrests and forced treatment are hardly appropriate health interventions. Diet is the number one determinant of health outcomes. Do we really want the government monitoring everything that goes into our bodies? And if it is the proper role of government to punish citizens for unhealthy choices, why target marijuana? Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of nicotine. Unfortunately, cannabis represents the counterculture to misguided reactionaries intent on forcibly imposing their version of morality. The United States now has the highest incarceration rate in the world, in large part due to the intergenerational culture war otherwise known as the war on some drugs. Canada should Just Say No to the American Inquisition. Robert Sharpe, program officer, Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, D.C. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh