Pubdate: Thu, 22 Nov 2012
Source: Prince George Citizen (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Prince George Citizen
Contact:  http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/350
Author: Bruce Strachan
Cited: Sensible BC: http://www.sensiblebc.ca

IT'S TIME TO DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA

In the late 1990s I was doing open-line radio and Bill 
"I-never-inhaled" Clinton was president of the United States. One 
morning I got a call and was asked if I'd ever smoked dope. In a fit 
of bravado and unbridled candour I said, "My dear for many years I 
was a musician, I've smoked everything I could light and inhaled all 
the way down to my toenails."

The newsroom archived that comment and years later played the clip 
for my on-air retirement party. For the record - not that I'm 
counting - I had my last smoke of anything at 12:30 p.m. Jan. 23, 1988.

That said it's become clear Canada has to enter into a serious 
discussion about legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. 
There's no question the issue is looming large on the political 
scene. During the recent U.S. federal election voters in Washington 
and Colorado approved legalizing the use of marijuana. Both states 
have one year to write legislation regarding the distribution and 
regulation of marijuana and you can bet there's a lot of interest in 
what that legislation will say and how it will be handled. 
Collectively, nine states border Washington and Colorado and the 
pressure on those neighbouring states, both in inter-state policing 
concerns and citizen interest will be extensive.

In Canada, federal Liberal leadership candidate Justin Trudeau has 
added to the buzz telling the Charlottetown Guardian, "If we treated 
cannabis like tobacco or alcohol, we could regulate its content, tax 
the living bejesus out of it, remove criminal organizations from the 
market at a stroke and prevent minors from getting their hands on it."

As well as adding a little Maritime style to his pitch, Trudeau makes 
the point we all know to be true; recreational drug use is here to 
stay and the state might as well get in the game. If Trudeau wins the 
leadership race - and the odds say he will - it will be interesting 
to see if he carries through and makes his Maritime musings a 
platform plank in the 2015 federal election.

At the official level and to date, any relaxation of the current laws 
is not in the cards. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is opposed to any 
changes in the current prohibitions and B.C. Premier Christy Clark 
has agreed with Harper's disinterest. With a provincial election just 
six months Clark is justifiably jittery in avoiding the attendant 
decriminalization controversy.

However, kicking the cannabis can down the road will not make it go 
away and whether we like or not the issue is here to stay.

Adding some substance to the question is a July Ipsos poll showing 66 
per cent of Canadian respondents approved the use of marijuana. In 
the Atlantic provinces the favourable response rose to 72 per cent, 
which no doubt explains Justin Trudeau's Prince Edward Island 
enthusiasm for party pot.

In B.C. a group called SensibleBC is attempting to garner enough 
public enthusiasm to put the marijuana question to the B.C referendum 
process which if successful would put pot approval to a vote held on 
Sept. 2014. I admire the group's gumption but I don't think it will 
fly. But, I was wrong about the GST referendum so who knows what will 
happen in the next two years.

SensibleBC has also drawn legislation in a proposal called the 
Sensible Policing Act. The purpose of the Act is to divert B.C. 
policing activity and expenditures from those involved in the simple 
possession of cannabis to investigating and charging those involved 
in more substantive criminal endeavours.

The Act is professionally done and it's obvious SensibleBC has spent 
some serious time and money putting their pot pitch into play.

SensibleBC and it would seem the majority of Canadians know we have a 
solvable problem. Prohibition of anything found to be reasonably 
innocuous will not work. The U.S. found that out during the 1930s 
when it tried to stop the sale and consumption of alcohol.

Is marijuana a gateway drug leading unsuspecting teenagers to a 
drug-addled life on the street? Not likely. Let's face it, everything 
anyone does can be a gateway to something. It's how you're personally 
prepared to handle the temptation that determines the outcome.

As we lurch into the second decade of the 21st century it's clear the 
pot war is not going away. The anti-decriminalization crowd can dig 
their heels in but they're flying in the face of reality and public 
opinion. The war on drugs is over and we lost. It's time for 
governments to get on with decriminalization and recognize the obvious.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom