Pubdate: Thu, 27 Sep 2012
Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Nanaimo Daily News
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608
Author: Spencer Anderson

MARIJUANA RESOLUTION GETS MIXED REVIEWS

A Union of B.C. Municipalities vote in favour of a resolution that 
supports the decriminalization of marijuana is drawing mixed reaction 
from Nanaimo city council members attending the annual conference.

The resolution, brought forward to the annual convention by the 
municipality of Metchosin, calls for UBCM to lobby the federal 
government to decriminalize cannabis and research regulating and 
taxing the substance. It was passed Wednesday.

The debate over whether to decriminalize the substance has sowed 
division between experts who argue that the federal prohibition on 
the substance has cost taxpayers millions while providing a windfall 
for organized crime, and police and criminologists who argue that 
decriminalization will have little impact on reducing crime.

Nanaimo Mayor John Ruttan voted against the resolution. He said that 
as mayor, it was important for him to support existing laws, and 
argued that supporting the resolution would have sent the wrong message.

He also said it didn't make sense to support decriminalization of the 
substance when the province has spent millions on a program to help 
people quit smoking.

Coun. Diane Brennan, on the other hand, supported the resolution, and 
said the support it received from the UBCM was a small step, but 
"very significant." "It's an awful weighty organization saying to the 
federal government, 'You need to change your approach,'" she said.

Brennan said she supports decriminalization because it would free up 
police resources and remove pressures from an already-clogged court 
system. Coun. George Anderson did not attend the vote, but said the 
debate about the legal status of marijuana needs to continue.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom