Pubdate: Sun, 23 Sep 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: Elaine O'Connor

CANNABIS LAWS BACK ON AGENDA

Experts Make Their Case to Delegates Before Meeting of B.C. Municipalities

A panel of medical and legal experts - including former B.C. 
attorney-general Geoff Plant - will try to convince the Union of B.C. 
Municipalities to support the decriminalization of marijuana and its 
regulated sale.

The panel is holding a debate in Victoria on Monday in advance of the 
UBCM's annual convention.

Delegates are later expected to vote on a resolution that calls on 
governments to "decriminalize marijuana and research the regulation 
and taxation of marijuana."

"We're hoping this issue gains more traction with provincial 
politicians and contributes to discussions about health and safety 
issues that are a direct consequence of cannabis prohibition," Dr. 
Evan Wood, a professor of medicine at the University of B.C. and the 
director of the Urban Health Initiative at the B.C. Centre for 
Excellence in HIV/AIDS, said Friday.

Wood is a member of Stop the Violence B.C., a coalition of public 
health experts, academics, lawyers and law-enforcement officials 
dedicated to implementing marijuana policies that improve public health.

The group supports the distribution of marijuana through monitored 
outlets, with age and hour-of-sale restrictions, as well as limits on 
potency and the number of outlets.

"No one is advocating for unrestrained marijuana legislation, but we 
are talking about a framework of strict controls that has the 
potential to wage economic war on organized crime, to increase 
[government] revenues and reduce rates of marijuana use in the 
province," Wood said.

He added that he hoped the resolution, if approved, would gain 
traction at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and with the 
federal government.

"Even Stephen Harper has a sincere interest in improving public 
safety and addressing organized-crime concerns," he said.

"I think no one has brought to his attention that the laws and 
policing of cannabis are actually a [factor in increasing] gang 
violence and organized crime."

The debate will feature Wood, Plant, Const. David Bratzer of the 
Victoria Police Department, Dr. Darryl Plecas, Dave Williams of the 
RCMP's drug enforcement branch and Cmdr. Pat Slack of Washington 
state's Snohomish County drug task force.

Bratzer - speaking while off duty and with views that do not reflect 
that of his employer - said that continuing to police low-level 
marijuana crimes was a waste of policing dollars.

"Municipal politicians in B.C. are very concerned about the rising 
police costs, and cannabis enforcement is expensive," he said Friday.

"Millions of dollars are spent every year on marijuana enforcement to 
little effect. It's money down the rathole."

Bratzer pointed to a 2010 Ministry of Public Safety report showing 
that 15,638 people had been charged with cannabis possession that 
year, another 1,285 with cannabis trafficking and 2,105 with production.

Cannabis offences accounted for a full 70 per cent of all drug 
offences that year.

The B.C. vote comes as several American states - Colorado, Washington 
and Oregon - are also considering legalizing the drug, with a vote on 
their ballots in the November elections. Medical marijuana exemptions 
are already in effect in 17 states.

And it comes as B.C. marijuana advocate Dana Larsen plans to 
challenge the Police Act with an Elections Canada-approved petition 
initiative that would prohibit the use of provincial police resources 
to enforce laws on possession and use of marijuana.

The marijuana vote is just one of the key resolutions up for debate 
by the 1,500 delegates at the 109th annual UBCM convention, which 
runs Monday to Friday in Victoria.

Among the 206 resolutions, on which the UBCM will vote:

* petitioning the government to maintain coast guard staffing levels;

* lobbying to maintain emergency preparedness programs being cut by 
the federal government;

* opposing any projects that would increase oil-tanker traffic on B.C.'s coast;

* rejecting any call for B.C. Ferry fare hikes or core service reductions;

* pushing for more funding for conservation to mitigate bear-human conflict;

* advocating that milk carton-type recyclables be included in the 
beverage container deposit-refund returns program;

* opposing an increase in raw-log exports from B.C.;

* lobbying provincial and federal governments to ban the use of shark fins;

* pushing for a reversal in the increases in duty-and tax-free limits 
on goods coming into Canada;

* insisting the province end MSP premiums for seniors;

* working for more funding for munic-ipal police forces to bring them 
into line with community RCMP detachments;

* demanding the repeat-sex-offender registry be made public;

* requesting liquor laws to allow police to remove known gang members 
from bars and restaurants;

* urging the province to find and implement a long-term funding model 
for TransLink;

* encouraging the government to create a program to assess and 
fast-track foreign doctors into the workforce, to mitigate doctor shortages;

* lobbying the province to put a fee on all plastic disposable bags, 
which generates funds for recycling programs;

* petitioning governments to ban genetically modified tree-fruits ;

* pushing for laws to ban the release of dangerous offenders into 
small communities that don't have RCMP detachments to deal with them.

Voting on the resolutions begins Wednesday at the Victoria Convention Centre.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom