Pubdate: Mon, 02 Jul 2012
Source: Windsor Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2012 The Windsor Star
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501
Author: Mark Kennedy
Cited: The Global Commission on Drug Policy: 
http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/

CANADIANS FAVOUR DECRIMINALIZING POT

OTTAWA - Two-thirds of Canadians think the law should be changed so 
that people caught with small amounts of marijuana no longer face 
criminal penalties or fines, a new poll has found.

The nationwide survey for Postmedia News and Global TV, which 
examined the state of Canadian values, revealed that the public is 
distinctly offside with the federal government on the issue.

Earlier this spring, Prime Minister Stephen Harper attended a summit 
of leaders from the Americas, where some called for a major review of 
the so-called "war on drugs," and perhaps even the decriminalization 
of some drug use. Liberals at a policy conference this year passed a 
resolution endorsing the legalization of marijuana.

That came after similar calls last year from a Global Commission on 
Drug Policy, which numbers former presidents of Colombia and Mexico, 
former United States secretary of state George Schultz and former 
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan among its members. That 
group also urged nations to consider "experimentation" with "legal 
regulation of drugs" such as marijuana "to undermine the power of 
organized crime and safeguard the health and security of their citizens."

At the Summit of the Americas in April, Harper acknowledged that the 
international campaign to stem the drug trade isn't working, but he 
flatly rejected decriminalization as one potential solution.

The June 18-25 survey by Ipsos Reid found that Canadians are much 
more willing to entertain the idea.

It found that 66 per cent of people believe that "the possession of 
marijuana in small amounts" should be "decriminalized so that it no 
longer carries a penalty or fine." Another 34 per cent opposed the idea.

Support for decriminalization is strongest in Atlantic Canada (72 per 
cent) followed by British Columbia, Saskatchewan/Manitoba and Ontario 
- - in all three regions, support for decriminalization runs at 69 per 
cent. Opposition to decriminalization is strongest in Alberta, where 
42 per cent of people don't like the idea.

Ipsos Reid president Darrell Bricker said in an interview that the 
poll results are part of a trend in recent years which has seen 
support for decriminalization rising.

Ipsos Reid has conducted similar polls on the issue over the past 25 
years, and the data reveal that support is considerably higher now 
than it was in the past. In 1987, just 39 per cent supported 
decriminalization, rising to 55 per cent in 2003.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom