Pubdate: Thu, 31 May 2001
Source: Nelson Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2001 Nelson Daily News
Contact:  http://www.nelsondailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/288
Author: Hubert Beyer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decriminalization)

NOW IS THE TIME TO DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA

VICTORIA - When Joe Clark, the Conservative leader, starts calling for the 
decriminalization of marijuana, the time has definitely come.

Alan Rock, the Justice Minister, doesn't go quite as far but he, too, says 
it's time for a frank discussion about whether Canada's marijuana laws are 
outdated.

This sudden preoccupation with the question of whether the possession of 
marijuana ought to be legalized or just decriminalized has a reason: Last 
year, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that an outright ban on marijuana 
is inconsistent with the principles of justice.

The court didn't strike down the law, but allowed for one year to appeal 
its decision, rewrite it or scrap it altogether. Lack of response will 
strike down the law.

Some argue in favor of outright legalization. They can point to strong 
public support.

In a recent poll by Reginald Bibby, a sociologist with the University of 
Lethbridge, 46 per cent of the respondents favored legalization of 
marijuana. Not surprisingly, in B.C. that number rose to 56 per cent.

Yet, prudence may dictate a less drastic change. Legalization would 
necessitate detailed preparations. Like with alcoholic beverages and 
tobacco products, somebody's would have to be given the green light to grow 
the stuff.

Next comes the question of who should sell it. Liquor stores might be an 
obvious choice, but would any government, provincial or federal, want to 
wade into that minefield?

And last but not least, Canadian politicians will undoubtedly keep an eye 
on American reaction. Outright legalization would enrage the U.S. 
government, which is determined to continue the war on drugs that was lost 
a long time ago.

And nobody has even been able to convince the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency 
that there is a difference between marijuana and crack cocaine, when all 
they have to do is ask the former and current presidents to explain it to them.

When all is said and done, the more rational choice for Canada is 
decriminalization which has been supported in other polls by close to 80 
per cent of respondents.

There is also increasing evidence that marijuana use is far less harmful 
than those pushing the buttons in the war on drugs would have had us believe.

It is estimated that more than 600,000 Canadians have received criminal 
records for simple possession of marijuana, most of them in the past 20 
years. In the sixties it was not uncommon for people caught with one 
marijuana cigarette to go to be sentenced to five years in prison. In the 
States they still do.

It doesn't happen in Canada anymore, but still, it is ludicrous at best and 
obscene at worst that people still get criminal records for doing what 80 
per cent of the Canadian public says should be decriminalized.

It is encouraging that recently the House of Commons unanimously passed a 
motion to create a committee to examine the use of non-medical drugs in 
Canada. All five parties have indicated they will raise the marijuana issue 
at those meetings.

Committee members would be well advised to consider how marijuana came to 
be first demonized and then criminalized in Canada.

It was in 1920 that an Edmonton woman, writing under the pen name Janey 
Canuck first warned Canadians about "marahuana." Seven years later, Canada 
outlawed its use.

Janey was a prolific and sensationalist writer, not only on the evils of 
marijuana, but on the dangers of non-white immigrants. She wrote of "the 
lowest classes of yellow and black men," and "this sallow, unsmiling 
Oriental." What a broad.

Canadians may know her better as Emily Murphy, the first woman judge in the 
British Empire, and one of the "the famous five." In 1929, these women won 
a judgment from the British Privy Council that declared women were indeed 
persons under the British North America Act, and therefore entitled to sit 
in the Senate.

Researchers for the LeDain Commission on the Non-Medical Use of Drugs 
reported in 1973, "Her writings were extremely influential in shaping 
Canadian drug laws," and many of her "original proposals are still 
reflected in our narcotics legislation."

I say it's time to revisit the law that Janey Canuck inspired with her 
mean-spirited and sensationalist writings. With the majority of Canadians 
nodding approval, it shouldn't be too difficult even for those politicians 
who always have one eye on re-election to come out in favor of 
decriminalizing marijuana.

And maybe if people are allowed to grow a few plants for personal use, it 
will even make a dent in the criminal distribution of marijuana.
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