Pubdate: Mon, 19 May 2003
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2003 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Paul A. Walmark

U.S. HAS NO RIGHT TO HINDER OUR LAWS

Re: Ottawa's pot plan overhaul delayed two more weeks

Reports about the interference of the Bush administration concerning 
Canada's social policy are alarming. When the government of Canada 
contemplates changing its laws regarding marijuana, the Bush government 
steps in and says, "Oh, no you don't." As a government that breaks 
international law on a regular basis, the war against Iraq being only one 
example, the hypocrisy of its statements on attempts to reform Canada's 
marijuana laws is obvious.

Is the administration in Washington so ignorant that it doesn't know 
marijuana has been decriminalized in 13 states in the U.S. already? Is it 
so obsessed with its drug war that it hasn't heard the statistics from 
those states? The states that have decriminalized marijuana have all 
recorded a decline in consumption. Further, the states that have the 
harshest and most draconian anti-marijuana laws, such as Bush's own state 
of Texas, consistently record an increase in consumption.

Like many Canadians, I would like to remind the U.S. to mind its own 
business and clean up its own act before it starts lecturing the rest of 
the world. Threats about the border and trade amount to nothing more than 
cheap blackmail.

The U.S. has no right to dictate social policy in Canada, much as it might 
like to.

Paul A. Walmark

Toronto
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