Pubdate: Fri, 30 Sep 2011
Source: Peterborough This Week (CN ON)
Copyright: Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing
Contact: http://www.mykawartha.com/generalform
Website: http://www.mykawartha.com/community/peterborough
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1794
Author: Joel Wiebe

CANDIDATES TALK MARIJUANA

 From Outright Legalization to Reducing Possession to a Fine, Hear 
What the Local Candidates Have to Say

PETERBOROUGH - Frustrated, on Sept. 16, Jennifer Collett decided to 
walk from Peterborough to Queen's Park in Toronto to make people more 
aware the issues facing those using medicinal marijuana.

"I walked 141 kilometres," she says.

Other than a meal and a coffee a day during the four-day trek, the 
Peterborough woman consumed marijuana-based medication for most of 
her sustenance.

She sees hope in some of the barriers facing medical marijuana use 
changing but she says big pharmaceutical companies are starting to 
get involved. She worries that this will drive up prices and make it 
difficult for people to grow their own.

There are many organizations dedicated to the cause, she says, noting 
her walk helped draw them together.

She also hopes to show that many medicinal marijuana users are not 
simply people trying to get stoned but professionals in the community 
using a natural medicine.

She didn't initially plan her walk to coincide with the provincial 
election but she's hoping to draw some attention from the candidates.

"We are not cared about," she says.

Police are ordered to enforce the law, she says, which means changes 
need to start with the lawmakers.

Green Party candidate Gary Beamish is ready to make some changes.

He spent 11 years caring for his son as he died of cancer. At age 5, 
Mr. Beamish says his son was prescribed medicinal marijuana.

He'd like to see the substance outright legalized.

A tax consultant, he says a client and former biker told him a grow 
operation could be set up for about $67,000 and cover that cost every 
three months, tax-free. By prohibiting it, he says it's making 
organized crime rich and putting people at risk who use it since the 
product may be tampered with.

In the Netherlands, a place where marijuana is legal, he says they 
have closed jails like we close schools.

Plus, he says, those who treat their pain with alcohol or mainstream 
prescription drugs often look far worse down the road than marijuana users.

Perhaps the LCBO, he says with a laugh, will have to add an "M" into 
their acronym in the future.

"It's a big source of revenue," he adds.

Liberal incumbent Jeff Leal acknowledges the medicinal use of 
marijuana but says most of it is covered by federal rules. He says 
the government relies on the judgment of doctors.

Progressive Conservative candidate Alan Wilson would also leave it up 
to doctors to decide the medical merits.

An election is not the time to make laws, he says, but when it's 
over, it will be a time to have a serious discussion on the subject.

It's not unreasonable, he adds, to make access to marijuana the same 
as any other prescription drug. It's also not unreasonable to compare 
it to alcohol, he states.

He does disagree with Mr. Beamish's take on the scene in the 
Netherlands, where he says they have just as bad a drug problem as here.

Ideally, he'd like to see minor possession and minor trafficking 
possession to simply result in a fine, focusing the big sentences on 
the organized criminals getting youth hooked.

"Marijuana does kill brain cells," he adds.

NDP candidate Dave Nickle was not available for comment.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom