Pubdate: Tue, 7 Apr 2009 Source: Banner, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2009 The Orangeville Banner Contact: http://www.orangeville.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2217 Author: Rob Strang Note: Rob Strang is a former Orangeville town councillor, an engineer and a self-employed father of three, committed to promoting sustainable development. Referenced: Report of the Senate Special Committee On Illegal Drugs http://www.senatereport.ca/ Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Marijuana - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?224 (Marijuana and Driving) TIME TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA I was in the liquor store the other day buying some coffee liqueur. Although I normally go for the big name brand, I thought I would try for the 100- mile diet. Sure enough, I could save 25 per cent off the price and stimulate the local economy by purchasing a product made in Grimsby, not 80 miles away. It was six per cent higher in alcohol to boot. Checking this fact reminded me of my student days in university when our house had an all-night Godzilla film festival. I was in charge of the refreshments and had strict orders to get the most alcohol for the buck. I did the math, cents per millilitre of alcohol. It turned out that Canadian Sauterne was the most economical buzz. We were too young to kid ourselves; we were going to a store dedicated to selling a drug. Different concentrations, different flavours, carbonated or mixed, all a medium for delivering a psychoactive substance sanctioned by our society to give us a legal high. I'm a bit surprised that in the 30 years since our Godzilla festival, alcohol has kept its status while cannabis has remained outside the law. I'm wondering if these tough times might bring some objective thinking about what the cost of chasing dope-smoking youth and the benefits of regulating and taxing the dreaded weed. Wouldn't it be better to have people buy joints from the liquor store, labelled with the THC content, quality assured, grown by a licenced farmer, with the appropriate taxes funding something worthwhile rather than a black market? It's time to dust off the Report of the Senate Special Committee On Illegal Drugs, that was published in 2002. Rather than diss the Senate for allegedly doing nothing, let's listen to one of the many good reports that senators have produced. Noteworthy in this report are the findings that, "used in moderation, cannabis in itself poses very little danger to users and to society as a whole" and that cannabis itself was not a cause of other drug use and therefore was not a gateway drug. The Senators also found that keeping marijuana use illegal was not reducing its use. Of course for heavy users, bronchitis and lung cancer come with the smoke and although addiction is an issue, the data showed that dependence on grass is less frequent and less severe than with alcohol or cigarettes. Most surprising was the report's finding that "cannabis leads to a more cautious style of driving", although cannabis and alcohol combined is worse than the alcohol alone. I'm not a smoker of any sort and have no intention of becoming one, but these days we can't afford useless laws that waste taxpayers money and benefit organized crime. I think it's time our politicians took on the issue and come up with a law that reflects reality and common sense. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake