The Canadian Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs released a report on September 4 announcing that the current prohibition of marijuana use should end. "Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a social and public health issue," said the committee's chairperson, Senator Pierre Nolin, a member of the Progressive Conservative Party.

The panel unanimously recommended legalizing sales and use of marijuana and hashish to anyone over 16, and allowing citizens to grow the drug for their own use. Also recommended was that the government regulate sales and production just like cigarettes and beer, that the product be taxed and some of the proceeds pay for research on health affects.

[continues 192 words]