Pubdate: Thu, 16 Feb 2012
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Michael Smyth
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

IT'S TIME WE TALKED ABOUT LEGALIZING POT

Now that B.C.'S former top cops have become our "pot cops," the 
pressure was on the current politicians at the legislature to admit 
whether they've inhaled or not.

Premier Christy Clark and NDP Leader Adrian Dix were both asked 
whether they had ever smoked marijuana, after four former 
attorneys-general called on them to support pot legalization.

Dix had no problem coughing up that he tried the demon weed once and 
didn't like it.

"It was never my thing," the straitlaced Dix told me Wednesday.

"Oddly, people aren't very surprised by that."

Clark, by comparison, didn't provide an answer - and I don't blame 
her a bit. I've never found it to be a particularly fair or relevant 
question for a politician, and Dix defended the premier on the point.

"I completely defend her right not to answer that," he said. 
"However, I do think she should state her position on the main issue."

But Clark wouldn't rise to that bait, either, and refused to say 
where she stood on the legalization question.

"I'm going to leave the marijuana debate to the federal government," 
Clark said. "It's their sole sphere of responsibility."

She's right about the federal jurisdiction, of course. And the entire 
debate is academic as long as Stephen Harper is prime minister and 
remains firmly opposed to legalization.

That doesn't excuse Clark from saying where she stands on the issue 
as premier, especially in a province with such a massive marijuana 
industry and accompanying crime problem.

Don't expect Dix to become a champion of legal pot if he becomes 
premier, though.

Dix said he favours decriminalization, which generally means 
possession or cultivation of small amounts of marijuana would not be 
a criminal offence.

More and more British Columbians are starting to see that as a 
copout, too. Polls show support for outright legalization is on the rise.

The fact that four former attorneys general - including ex-premier 
Ujjal Dosanjh - would call for legalization, regulation and taxation 
of marijuana is significant. How much of a failure is pot prohibition?

Consider that when Dosanjh was attorney-general, someone set up a 
grow-op in a rental house he owned. And none of these former top cops 
could even keep pot out of prisons, never mind streets or schoolyards.

It's a debate whose time has come, and Clark should be part of it.

I don't care whether she ever toked up herself. I do care where she 
stands on the issue, and voters deserve to know her opinion.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom