UBC and SFU researchers find decriminalization would reduce organized crime and lower the rate of cannabis use

Legalizing marijuana in B. C. could generate $ 2.5 billion in government tax and licensing revenues over the next five years, according to a study published this month in the International Journal of Drug Policy.

The information comes after Washington state and Colorado passed measures two weeks ago approving the legalization of marijuana for adult use under a strictly regulated system.

The study - conducted by a coalition of University of B. C. and Simon Fraser University researchers - used surveillance data from the Centre for Addictions Research to estimate the annual value of the B. C. retail cannabis market at between $ 443 million and $ 564 million.

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British Columbians spend half-a-billion dollars a year on pot - and a new study says decriminalizing the drug could fill government coffers with $500 million a year in new tax revenue. Dr. Evan Wood, senior author of the study, said this is the first serious attempt to calculate the B.C. domestic market for pot - and may help convince B.C.ers that decriminalizing is better than the ineffective war on drugs.

"Governments in North America have now spent $1 trillion on the war on drugs, but young people have easier access to marijuana than tobacco or alcohol," said Wood, who serves as the Canada Research Chair in Inner City Medicine at the University of B.C. "These laws have created marijuana grow-ops, hydro theft, home invasions and gang activity.

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Don't look too hard for the reason in the federal government's policy on drugs. Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq rejected a plea from her provincial counterparts this week to ban oxycodone.

It raises questions about where, exactly, this government stands on substance abuse, when it involves big corporate interests.

Oxycodone is a powerful narcotic, usually sold as a pill that addicts can grind up and inject, for a high similar to heroin. And it's equally addictive.

Last year the manufacturer replaced it with a version that is more difficult to inject, easing at least some of the concerns about its misuse.

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Legalization of marijuana-will it work?

Much has been said about the benefits of legalizing marijuana. It will be controlled, taxable, no harm to the economy or personal health, and fewer deaths due to gang violence.

All looks rosy.

The media seem to have been caught up in the hype without looking at this topic with a more critical eye.

From a drug dealer's perspective, legalization is a good thing. We are told that the marijuana trade in B.C. brings in roughly $6 billion per year.

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Editor:

Re: Shaun Thomas' Nov. 14 column, Prince Rupert Northern View.

Now that neighbouring Washington State and Colorado have legalized marijuana, Ottawa can no longer claim Canada must uphold marijuana prohibition in order to maintain good U.S. relations.

In 2002, the Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs concluded that marijuana is relatively benign, prohibition contributes to organized crime, and law enforcement efforts have little impact on patterns of use.

Consider the experience of the former land of the free and current world leader in per capita incarceration. The U.S. has double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available.

The only winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels and shameless tough-on-drugs politicians who confuse the drug war's tremendous collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant.

Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.

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A decades-old debate regarding the legalization and taxation of marijuana has been reignited by a new study by researchers at the University of B.C. and Simon Fraser University.

British Columbia's domestic cannabis market could be worth more than $500 million annually, resulting in $2.5 billion in tax and licensing revenues over the next 5 years, according to the study.

But according to some experts, a successful taxation and regulation market in B.C. would need to take a public health approach.

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Liberal MLA Doug Horne will be in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, today representing B.C. at the Pacific Northwest Economic Region conference. It's a regular meeting of western provinces and states where officials talk about common concerns.

Marijuana is not on the agenda, Horne said, and he has no plans to bring it up.

But you can bet some hallway chatter will be about the ground breaking Washington state initiative vote last week that effectively legalizes the recreational use of up to one ounce of pot by adults.

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An Open House during National Addictions Awareness Week (Nov.19 to 25) will showcase the wide variety of resources available to help people in the Central Okanagan.

Representatives from more than 30 agencies and organizations that actively work to assist people struggling with or impacted by substance abuse will be on hand for the event.

It takes place Thursday, Nov. 22, 2:30 to 5:30 p.m., at Trinity Baptist Church, 1905 Springfield Rd.

Christene Walsh, social development coordinator with the Regional District of Central Okanagan, says acknowledging local resources and the vital services they provide our community is one key benefit of this event, yet sharing this knowledge with the broader community is just as essential.

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Medical marijuana is here to stay and Maple Ridge can't do much about it, except to say it should go on farmland and not in residential neighourhoods.

A staff report says staff and a lawyer should write up such a bylaw, an idea that was sent to a future council meeting for full discussion.

District planner Diana Hall told council that Maple Ridge can't restrict medical marijuana production for personal use, but it can regulate the commercial production of medical marijuana by requiring that it go in specific zones, in this case, farmland.

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VCH says better programs available elsewhere

Money has run out for the Rainier Hotel addictions treatment program for women.

The program offers addictions and clinical treatment to 41 homeless women in the Downtown Eastside over a longer term and focuses on former sex-trade workers. As they progress in their treatment, the women move up from the treatment program on the second floor to the third floor for housing and career assistance and receive continued clinical support.

But the $5 million funding from Health Canada will run dry by early December. Vancouver Coastal Health has decided not to continue the program with money it receives from the provincial government and will find space for these women in other treatment programs and services.

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On Tuesday, Nov. 6, both the states of Colorado and Washington passed ballots legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, raising interest from advocates about the possible impact of the decision here in British Columbia. Some 55 per cent of voters in Washington approved Initiative 502, legalizing the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana by anyone over the age of 21. The question of legalization of marijuana has been a longstanding dispute in our own province, and this change in policy down south has strengthened the cry for similar action here in Canada.

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Have no doubt: The War on Drugs, if its defenders capitulate, will segue into a War on Boring, Un-newsworthy, Conscientious Taxpayers. The usual victims.

They'll be paying big for the fresh mess that would be created by sea-to-sea legalization of the mind-fuzzying weed - just what the economically beaten-down United States needs as it teeters on the brink of the so-called fiscal cliff, and vulnerable Canada, too. And a pottage it would be, of slick Next Big Thing businesses and swollen new bureaucracies.

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Re: Decriminalization of pot in Canada is a sensible idea whose time has come, Barbara Yaffe column, Nov. 15,

Another sensible idea would first let Washington and Colorado's recreational drug experience answer some critical questions before we commit ourselves to legal pot.

Will displaced pot traffickers be forced to push more potent designer drugs? Will cannabis tourism overwhelm as it has in Amsterdam? Will the market prefer high-THC pot over the government-sanctioned version? Will pot's scientifically known toxicity to DNA, bodies and minds actually prove to be significantly harmful to the public? Will the streets register increased deaths and injury due to marijuana inebriation?

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Liberal MLA Doug Horne was Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, on Thursday representing B.C. at the Pacific Northwest Economic Region conference.

It's a regular meeting of western provinces and states where officials talk about common concerns. Marijuana is not on the agenda, Horne said, and he has no plans to bring it up.

But you can bet some hallway chatter will be about the groundbreaking Washington state initiative vote last week that effectively legalizes the recreational use of up to one ounce of pot by adults.

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Liberal MLA Doug Horne was in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, this week representing B.C. at the Pacific Northwest Economic Region conference.

It's a regular meeting of western provinces and states, where officials talk about common concerns.

Marijuana was not on the agenda, Horne said, and he had no plans to bring it up.

But you can bet there was hallway chatter about the groundbreaking Washington state vote last week that effectively legalizes the possession of up to one ounce of pot by adults.

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What do I think of when I hear the word "pot?" Horrible smell, blaze, light, smoke, high, legalization.

Should marijuana be legalized? I think that it should, but with a limited amount for each person though. So many people are blazing it up, trying to escape their reality for just a little bit, trying to get a little escalation without doing anything too addicting.

People are going to be inhaling this green plant regardless of whether it's legal or not.

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Washington and Colorado recently passed referendums on legalizing the recreational use of marijuana.

This is probably a harbinger of the future on the grounds that the advantages of legalization outweigh the disadvantages. Since we do not have the intestinal fortitude to follow in the footsteps of Singapore, such legalization may well be much closer than we think. Unfortunately, planning for a world in which marijuana has been legalized seems to be hopelessly flawed.

Those who are strongly in favour of legalization are in the habit if comparing the use of marijuana to that of alcohol, but this parallel is extremely misleading. The preferred method of imbibing THC is to smoke marijuana. There are therefore many reasons for comparing marijuana usage to tobacco use.

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A group crusading for the decriminalization of marijuana stopped in the Peace Region to raise awareness of the cause.

Dana Larsen, director of Sensible B.C., spoke to supporters about the campaign he is running to have the province adopt the Sensible Policing Act. This legislation would stop police from arresting people for possession of marijuana.

"We want to legalize all aspects of the cannabis industry and bring it forward into a regulated system," explained Larsen.

Larsen believes that it's important that he visits all the regions in British Columbia, including the Peace Region.

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'The drug laws do far more harm than the drugs themselves'

Allan Boisvert doesn't think a person caught smoking a joint should have it dog them for the rest of their lives.

Because of this, the Parksville resident and marijuana activist is organizing two public forums on the marijuana issue, featuring former NDP leadership contender and decriminalization promoter Dana Larsen.

The first of these is slated to be held at the Qualicum Beach Library on Friday, Dec. 7, from noon to 1 p.m., with a second event at the Parksville Civic Centre from 7 - 9 p.m.

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"Except as authorized under the regulations, no person shall possess =C2=85

cannabis, its preparations, derivatives and similar synthetic preparations, including =C2=85 cannabis (marihuana)." - Controlled Drugs and Substances Act

More than twice as many marijuana possession charges have been laid in Nelson in recent years compared to a decade ago.

The Vancouver Sun reported last week on the rise in charges for simple possession province-wide: 88 per cent between 2002 and 2011, far in excess of the population increase over the same period.

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