Pubdate: Mon, 23 Jul 2007
Source: World-Spectator, The (CN SN)
Copyright: 2007 The World-Spectator.
Contact:  http://www.world-spectator.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2914
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n855/a07.html
Author: Robert Sharpe
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

MARIJUANA OR MARTINIS

Dear Editor:

Re: "One toke over the line?" editorial by Kevin Wedmark, published 
Monday, July 16.

Writing under the pen name Janey Canuck in the early 1900s, an 
Edmonton woman by the name of Emily Murphy first warned Canadians 
about the dread reefer and its association with dark-skinned 
minorities. The sensationalist yellow journalism of William Randolph 
Hearst led to marijuana's criminalization in the United States.

At the time, marijuana use in North America was limited to Mexican 
immigrants and black jazz musicians. Whites did not even begin to 
smoke marijuana until after it was prohibited. Almost one hundred 
years later, Canada lead the industrialized world in cannabis 
consumption. Prohibition has been counterproductive at best.

What started as a racist reaction to Mexican immigration has since 
morphed into an intergenerational culture war, with Canada's southern 
neighbor leading the global charge. The war on some drugs has given 
the (former) land of the free the highest incarceration rate in the world.

There is a good reason millions of people prefer marijuana to 
martinis. Cannabis is easily the least harmful recreational drug 
available, legal or otherwise. Medical science tells us that jail 
cells are inappropriate as health interventions. History shows they 
are ineffective as deterrents. It's time for Canada to Just Say No to 
the American Inquisition.

The following Virginia Law Review article offers a good overview of 
the cultural roots of marijuana legislation: 
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/vlr/vlrtoc.htm

For additional historical background please see the Canadian Senate 
report: http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1 
/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/ille-e/rep-e/summary-e.pdf

Sincerely,

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC 
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman