Pubdate: Wed, 13 Jul 2016
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Page: A11
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Marcus A. Sibley
Note: Marcus A. Sibley is a doctoral student in the Department of Law 
and Legal Studies at Carleton University. His research largely 
focuses on gendered-based violence and processes of criminal 
regulation in Canada.

WRONG STRATEGY ON POT

Liberals Should Decriminalize It Now, Writes Marcus A. Sibley.

The Liberal government has appointed a nine-member task force that 
will develop recommendations for a comprehensive plan on marijuana 
legalization and regulation.

The move to research and invest in sensible marijuana reform comes as 
minor possession offences continue to be enforced and police have 
raided unlicensed pot shops. Unfortunately, the government has 
rejected the possibility of immediately decriminalizing marijuana possession.

Decriminalization is not full legalization, but it would eliminate 
criminal penalty for marijuana-related offences and relieve the 
strain on an already over-used criminal justice system. The decision 
to appoint this task force without immediately decriminalizing 
possession not only flies in the face of Prime Minister Justin 
Trudeau's mandate to implement meaningful moves toward 
"evidence-based policy," it also betrays the cannabis culture 
Canadians have cultivated over the last 30 years.

Instead, the government maintains that taking the time to develop a 
plan to control marijuana distribution and sales through a legalized 
framework - without temporary decriminalization - better addresses 
the concerns of Canadians. It suggests the current legal 
infrastructure, which saw significant expansion under the government 
of Stephen Harper, can provide meaningful protections against 
organized crime and illegal pot sales.

This decision to continue enforcing marijuana offences encourages 
police to be heavy-handed in their enforcement while providing 
virtually no added safeguards to ensure that marijuana stays out of 
the hands of minors - a primary goal of Trudeau's campaign toward legalization.

"Quite frankly, until those laws are repealed by Parliament through 
the appropriate processes, they should be upheld, they should be 
obeyed," argues MP and former Toronto police chief Bill Blair.

Blair's comments are in reference to the growing number of unlicensed 
dispensaries, suggesting they are "reckless" and capitalizing on an 
ambiguous political climate to make a "quick buck" among recreational 
and other "unregulated" users. Blair's position presupposes that 
sales of illegal substances will skyrocket without the threat of 
criminal enforcement, though there is little evidence to support this.

In their book, Killer Weed, Susan Boyd (a member of the task force) 
and Connie Carter argue that this understanding of decriminalization 
is misleading, suggesting instead that countries which have moved 
toward decriminalizing recreational drugs saw virtually no rise in 
drug use, while also experiencing significant reductions in prison 
overcrowding.

There is a fundamental disconnect between the Liberal government's 
stance on pot versus what it is actually happening on the ground. 
Both Trudeau and Blair have suggested they are uncomfortable with the 
prospect that immediate decriminalization would make it easier for 
organized criminals to profit from marijuana sales.

Their discomfort, however, evidently does not extend to the fact 
countless non-violent cannabis users continue to face criminal 
records for an act soon to be legal. Charging non-violent cannabis 
users and small storefront dispensaries with criminal sanction seems 
antithetical to this supposed ideological shift toward a seemingly 
softer, evidence-based approach to crime control.

Rejecting the possibility of decriminalization before the task force 
has had a chance to meet radically undermines the kinds of political 
interventions experts can make, especially when there has been a 
great deal of research in the field of drug policy.

The first and most important recommendation of the newly appointed 
task force should be to immediately decriminalize marijuana, removing 
the stigmas of criminal sanction and embracing an ethos of compassion 
toward cannabis users. The interim solution should not default to 
continued police enforcement and punitive sanctions. While some 
police departments have refused to lay charges for possession, others 
continue to unevenly enforce the laws against some of their 
communities' most marginalized groups.

With an estimated $1.2 billion spent annually on marijuana 
enforcement, ruined lives bear the cost when we privilege punishment 
over evidence-based reforms.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom