Pubdate: Fri, 23 Dec 2016 Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB) Copyright: 2016 Winnipeg Free Press Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/send_a_letter Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502 Author: Pamela McColl Page: A6 DON'T SMOKE 'EM IF YOU GOT 'EM Re: How Canada's legalization of marijuana could change its relations with the U.S. (Dec. 20) Donald Trump is the least of Prime Minister Trudeau's worries. Three international UN drug conventions represent the legal basis of global drug prohibition, restricting nation-states from taking alternative approaches, including moving to the legalization of marijuana products for a domestic market. The prime minister cannot pick and choose what international laws he wishes to uphold. Not only will the new Trump administration in the United States question Trudeau's enthusiasm for risky public-health policy, but Canada will find itself offside of 190 countries that have supported evidence-based drug policy for decades. Canada has the highest rate of use by youth in the industrialized world and is the last country that should be experimenting with dangerous drug policies. Pamela McColl Vancouver - --- MAP posted-by: Matt