Pubdate: Thu, 26 Dec 2013
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2013 The Edmonton Journal
Contact: 
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html
Website: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Author: James Keller

POT FIGURES SKEWED, EXPERT SAYS

VANCOUVER - As it turns out, Nov. 6, 2012, was a big day for marijuana laws.

Voters in Colorado and Washington state approved initiatives to 
legalize pot, setting the stage for the regulated production and sale 
of the drug.

On that same day in Canada, provisions of a new federal law came into 
effect that imposed strict mandatory minimums for drug related 
crimes, including marijuana production.

The contrast, says University of Victoria professor Susan Boyd, could 
not have been greater.

"This new law and our revived war on drugs in Canada is so contrary 
to what's going on around the world," says Boyd, who specializes in 
drug law and drug policy.

She argues in her forthcoming book, Killer Weed: Marijuana Grow Ops, 
Media, and Justice, that Canada's recent tough-on-crime approach to 
drugs is, in part, the product of decades of skewed media coverage 
and police messaging that has routinely exaggerated the dangers of 
the marijuana industry and its connection to organized crime.

Boyd suggests police and politicians may be exaggerating the dangers 
of the marijuana trade because standard say-no-to-drugs messaging 
hasn't worked. She notes almost half of Canadians admit to trying pot 
at least once.

"We can see from our drug-use statistics that Canadians use marijuana 
and a small percentage of people use it regularly," she says.

"So one way to continue with the drug enforcement law-and-order 
mandate is to talk about the dangerousness of the growers, and that 
seems to have created some headway."

The RCMP, which Boyd focuses on heavily in the book, declined to 
respond to her criticisms.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom