Pubdate: Mon, 04 Aug 2003 Source: Ottawa Hill Times (CN ON) Contact: http://www.thehilltimes.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/192 Author: F. Abbas Rana Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA? MPs on the Justice Committee speak out about their smoking habits, or lack thereof; they'll be studying C-38 this fall, the government's bill to decriminalize pot. Alliance MP Garry Breitkreuz Yorkton-Melville, Sask. HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA? No. Do you support Bill C-38 The bill in my mind is a dangerous way to proceed. We have not done the research that we should have done before we brought this forward. There are warning signals coming from certain sectors of society indicating that this is not a good way to go and we need to investigate those properly before we go down this road. So, my very strong feeling is that it is premature to do this. Alliance MP Chuck Cadman Surrey North, B.C. HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA? I am on record, yes, in [the] 60s. It's part of my past, that's fine. Probably three quarters of my generation was doing it. Do you support Bill C-38? My basic concern is the message that it sends to kids by decriminalizing marijuana. The message that's been sent to our young people is completely confusing. On one hand, we are telling them to stay away from drugs and on the other hand we decriminalize the most common drug they use. Liberal MP Pat O'Brien London-Fanshawe, Ont. HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA? I think probably once or twice in university, I was probably handed something, it was marijuana, yeah. Yes [I have tried it] but I prefer cold beer. Do you support Bill C-38 I have very serious concerns about it. Major concern would be the amount of marijuana that a person can have in their possession. There was talk of 30 grams, now I think they are proposing to lower that to 15 grams. I want to hear more expert evidence about that. It's possible that 15 grams might be too high, I don't know that. These are the kinds of questions I want to ask at the committee when we get into these hearings. I have some very serious concerns about the potential fall out of that legislation for young people. Alliance MP Kevin Sorenson Crowfoot, Alta. HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA? No, I have not tried it because it's illegal and a Member of Parliament should try not to get involved in an illegal activity. Do you support Bill C-38? Obviously, we are very disappointed with it. We warned through the [Special Committee on the Non-Medical use of Drugs] that any major movement to decriminalize marijuana needed to be done after a number of measures were put in place. Those measures have not been put in place. The other thing we said all along is that if we are talking decriminalization of marijuana, it needs to be five grams or less. We think that the government again missed the mark here on the amount of marijuana they are allowing before the criminal offence takes place. Bloc MP Richard Marceau Charlesbourg-Jacques-Cartier, Que. HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA? The answer is no. Do you support Bill C-38 First of all, we [the Bloc] are favorable to the decriminalization of marijuana. We have some reservations about the bill. For example, this prohibition to grow your own plants. So, if you decriminalize having the marijuana, how can one guy who wants to smoke a joint or two is going to get his marijuana if he cannot grow a small quantity of it. That's forcing him to go to the black market. We don't think that's a good idea. Second, we wonder why the recommendation of the committee that set the limit at 30 grams was not accepted and was lowered to 15 grams. Tory MP Peter MacKay Pictou-Antigonish-Guysborough, N.S. HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA? The answer is no. Do you support Bill C-38? I am very concerned about the implications of decriminalizing/legalization of marijuana. It is incumbent upon the federal government to implement effective policies that protect our young people from the harmful effects and irresponsible use of alcohol and drugs. I firmly believe there is a strong connection between the use of marijuana and use of harder more addictive drugs and crimes such as breaking and entering and impaired driving. Neither legalization nor decreased criminal sanctions will fully address the many complexities that society faces regarding marijuana. There is currently a great deal of flexibility in the Criminal Code on what penalties attach upon conviction. The police and courts already exercise great discretion. To send people to jail for simple possession is not happening. However, there must be the ability to send a message of deterrence and denunciation. Liberal MP Marlene Jennings Notre-Dame-de-Grbce-Lachine, Que. HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA? I think it's public knowledge [that I have smoked marijuana in the past]. It's not a secret to my constituents because I made a lot of jokes about it, about inhaling contrary to [Bill] Clinton. The last time I smoked was probably in 1972, that was a long time ago. I used drugs from the time I was in the end of high school through [college] and into about the first year of university. Do you support Bill C-38 I honestly believe that at some point we are going to have to and we actually should think about legalization. I do not, however, think that we are at a stage where we can do it as a government or as a society because in order to move to that level, it would require that we really got in place our structures to help people who have problems, address the issue of young people under the age of 18 and I don't think we are there yet. In terms of decriminalization, I do think that it's a good idea. Liberal MP John McKay Scarborough East, Ont. HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA? No, virgin nostrils. I thought it was a stupid idea in 70s, it hasn't improved in the 80s and it has got really stupid in 90s and now it's downright dangerous. It wasn't even a temptation. Do you support Bill C-38? You can't suffer abuse of the law, disrespect for the law by people having small amounts of marijuana in their possession and not having the law enforced. That's a recipe for eroding the rule of law and that's not a good thing and if you erode the rule of law, a whole bunch of other things will follow. On the other side of the equation, from the health standpoint, I agree with Anne McLellan that there is no study in the world that shows that marijuana has any medicinal benefits. Would you ever put any drug on the market untested readily available from dealers on street corners and say, "oh, well, this has got medicinal benefits." You'd be run out of town and rightfully so. So, I don't buy the argument that this has medicinal benefits, it may have psychological benefits. I appreciate that's not a sound bite but on the other hand this is a little more complicated. Liberal MP Hedy Fry Vancouver Centre, B.C. HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA? No. I suppose having been a medical student, I have always been very leery of any thing that is a drug. I always think if somebody is going to get addicted, it's bound to be me. It's just a risk. You take other risks but that was one I never felt. Do you support Bill C-38? I was on the Special Committee of the Non-Medical use of Drugs so this [bill C-38] is one of our recommendations. I am for it for a number of reasons. I am for it if it is part of a comprehensive national drug strategy. I don't believe decriminalization of cannabis should be a separate sort of special little entity. What we want to do is to make sure that we do two things: We go after the traffickers, we go after huge illegal operations and we go after the international groups that are trafficking in marijuana but people who have small amounts just like we do with alcohol and we ticket them and we increase the penalties if they keep doing it. The most important thing that we think we wanted to do was to educate. Liberal MP Derek Lee Scarborough-Rouge River, Ont. HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA? I don't answer that because it doesn't help the...put it this way, I don't smoke. I don't smoke, period. For me, it's not relevant. I have friends who, I believe, on reasonable grounds, that they occasionally smoke marijuana. Do you support Bill C-38 Keep in mind that I was a member of the Special Committee on the Non-Medical use of Drugs. I am very pleased that the government has accepted the views of the committee and is proceeding on this basis. I very much support it. To me it's a manifestation of a very clear public policy determination that we have to move drug issues from as much as we can from the criminal law envelope to a health based envelope. I am very keen to see C-38 adopted. [Although] it won't make a huge change but it will move us in the right direction and it will be a signal to other countries that we have to be rational and sophisticated in our approach to drug issues and we should stop using our criminal courts and federal prosecutors to deal with drugs that don't happen to be a serious health problem. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom