Pubdate: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 Source: Richmond News (CN BC) Copyright: 2005, Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc. Contact: http://www.richmond-news.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1244 Author: Russell Barth LEGALIZE IT ALREADY Dear Editor, It is by design that Canadians don't know exactly what the Liberal's so-called "decriminalization" bill actually means. The Liberals want to appear to be more progressive, without actually doing anything at all, as this quote from Martin Caution, former Justice Minister, (made during questioning by the House of Commons Committee on Illegal Drugs regarding the proposed "decriminalization" bill in November 2003) shows: "We're not decriminalizing marijuana, to be technical, it will remain a criminal offense. What we are putting in place are alternative penalties, in using the Contraventions Act. I admit that using "decrim" at the beginning was not a good start, but over the past few months we have been quite clear about what we're doing." This was before Paul Martin promised during the 2004 election that the Grits would "decriminalize" possession. It is more likely that what the feds are planning is a cash grab where potentially millions of "tickets" will be handed out every year, while raising the penalties for growing, which will raise the street price of pot. This will accelerate the drug war, increase the violence as dealers fight for turf and customers. Our courts will clog up even more, our jails will get filled with "non-payment of fines" offenders and growers, and then the government will use this information to say, "See? We loosen the laws even a little, and more people than ever use and grow pot! We need to spend even more money on the War On Drugs." The only sensible thing to do is legalize cannabis, license the growers and commercial sellers, and tax the whole thing to the tune of $3 billion a year. Russell Barth, Educators For Sensible Drug Policy - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake