Pubdate: Fri, 22 Apr 2016
Source: Penticton Western (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Penticton Western
Contact:  http://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1310
Author: Dale Boyd

GETTING BLUNT ON THE LEGALIZATION OF WEED

It's not easy being green, man.

However, thanks to a cheekily-timed announcement by Health Minister
Jane Philpott on April 20, the international cannabis-infused
counterculture holiday and coincidentally Hitler's birthday, it may be
getting a bit easier.

Legislation to legalize weed is coming in 2017 Philpott promised at
the UN headquarters in New York as part of a three-day special session
tackling the world's drug problems.

And boy does the world have drug problems.

In a review of published studies Australian researchers determined
that 200 million people, roughly one in 20, use illicit drugs
including marijuana, amphetamines, cocaine and opioids.

Philpott stayed pretty close to the Liberal campaign promises, stating
the new reforms will keep "marijuana out of the hands of children and
profits out of the hands of criminals."

She said the new position on marijuana challenges the status quo of
many cultures and even more importantly notes "we know it is
impossible to arrest our way out of this problem."

That was a memo the former Conservative government never got, or
wouldn't read if they did. In fact, their mandatory minimum sentences
for specific drug crime convictions and certain limits on pre-trial
custody credit were recently found to be unconstitutional by the
Supreme Court of Canada. This is only the third time in history the
court found section 12 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was
violated by mandatory minimums.

Tough-on-crime rhetoric sounds good on the campaign trail but takes
society backwards when it comes to drug prohibition, permeating the
vilification of drug users.

Portugal tried the all-too-familiar conservative tough-on-crime
approach in the 1980s, making an about-face in 2001 when the country
decided to decriminalize drug use and possession.

What happened next was remembered by nobody as the country nosedived
into a Woodstock-esque parade of debauchery and criminal activity
accompanied by a simultaneous increase in the popularity of Jazz music.

Of course none of that happened. Instead, according to statistics
provided by think-tank Transform, rates of continuation of drug use
among all adults (aged 15-64) declined nearly 10 per cent between 2001
and 2012, drug-induced deaths dropped massively, nearly 70 per cent,
and HIV rates were reduced in the same time frame.

More important than the statistics is the Portuguese government
shifting drug control from the department of justice to their health
ministry. Treatment over incarceration, a crucial move that should be
noted. While it has burdened Portugal with rising healthcare costs,
drugs and addiction are health issues not criminal ones and definitely
not moral ones. Man has been using drugs since the beginning of
recorded history.

Drugs and crime are undoubtedly linked as well. As someone who spends
a lot of time in Penticton courtrooms, I can tell you this first hand.
But it's a vicious cycle. People face drug addictions, homelessness
and turn to property crime to support their habit, finding themselves
further disenfranchised with society as they spiral in and out of
incarceration.

The stigma against those addicted to drugs serves no one. It might
make you feel good to look down your nose at someone with a drug
issue, but you are really looking at a person who clearly has trouble
dealing with the challenges of day-to-day life.

Of course, why is it up to your tax dollars to help a drug
addict?

Well, Washington State made $67.5 million in pot-taxes in its first
year, projected by some to surge to $1 billion over four years. The
funds go towards health-related services in the state, a much more
important focus.

The war on drugs failed. Eradicating drug use through the justice
system is an impossible task and we need to acknowledge as a society
that the iron-fist approach was never an effective method.

The us-and-them mentality towards drug users needs to end. Obviously
drugs are not good for you. Neither are alcohol or cigarettes, but
regulation is possible if done properly. It takes the power away from
unregulated street dealers who are held to zero standards.

The legalization announcement is one of the first steps towards Canada
becoming a world leader in reversing a societal norm that has done
more harm than good.

Either way, now is a good time to invest in Doritos stock. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D