Pubdate: Sat, 07 Sep 2002
Source: Abbotsford News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 Hacker Press Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.abbynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1155
Author: Russ Akins

MUCH SMOKE SURROUNDS SENATE'S REPORT ON POT

While pro-marijuana advocates are rejoicing over a Senate recommendation 
that pot be treated the same as cigarettes or alcohol, a local member of 
the Marijuana Party of Canada is not so jubilant.

This week, a committee headed by Conservative Sen. Pierre Claude Nolin 
recommended that possession of cannabis be made legal for people 16 and 
older and be regulated as are liquor and cigarettes.

Norm Siefken of the Marijuana Party has been active in local politics, and 
told the Abbotsford News Thursday "a lot of people are totally jubilant 
about it.

"But I'm cautiously optimistic about it," he continued. "Nothing is going 
to happen unless Jean Chretien allows it to happen. He's a big-time whiskey 
drinker.

"He's a symbol of the old generation that opposes marijuana. But as far as 
selling it like alcohol or tobacco, that's what most of the Canadian people 
have been asking for for a long time."

Police officials have gone on record as opposing any move towards legalization.

Abbotsford Chief Ian Mackenzie said the Senate recommendation does not come 
as a surprise, as the federal justice minister has made similar comments. 
"But we do have a concern with it, no doubt about it," he told the 
Abbotsford News yesterday.

"The police will enforce the law. I don't think there is definitive 
evidence that marijuana is not a problematic drug, or does not lead to 
other drugs." Said Siefken: "For the police it's the make-work program. 
Eighty per cent of the arrests under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act 
are marijuana-related. They're feathering their own nests."

Siefken will be in charge of fellow marijuana advocate Tim Felger's 
campaign for the job of Abbotsford mayor in the Nov. 16 civic election.

Fraser Valley (Canadian Alliance) MP Chuck Strahl held a February town hall 
meeting in Chilliwack on the issue, and used his household mailout to pose 
the question: "Should the Criminal Code of Canada be changed regarding 
punishments for marijuana?"

He told the Abbotsford News: "On the process side of this, a House of 
Commons committee studied the same subject, and they will table their 
report in November.

"The committee has travelled extensively, and as MPs go, the debate for 
them is in November."

The MP said it was obvious in his survey that there are two groups of people.

"On one side there are those who want it decriminalized or legalized," he 
said. This is a slim majority in Strahl's survey.

"The other group, close to half, say the laws should stay as they are."

Meanwhile, most people reached a consensus on the medical use of marijuana, 
and believe it should be allowed, said Strahl.

As to it being made legal for sale to those older than 16, Strahl said: "I 
don't believe it should. Right now you can't sell a cigarette to anyone at 
16, or liquor.

"There should be a signal that should be sent about drug use generally, and 
the proper way to send that signal is to change the law to provide for 
summary conviction," he said.

"The better way is to take it out of the Criminal Code."

In June, researchers at the University College of the Fraser Valley (UCFV) 
and the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice 
Policy completed a first comprehensive study on the justice system's 
response to marijuana grow operations and marijuana trafficking in British 
Columbia.

It was released in two reports: Marijuana Growing Operations in British 
Columbia - An Empirical Survey (1997-2000) and Marijuana Trafficking 
Incidents in British Columbia (1997-2000).

It found Abbotsford ranks in the top 10 of B.C. cultivation centres.

Some other findings of the study included:

* The number of marijuana grow-ops coming to the attention of the police is 
increasing by 36 per cent each year.

* The average size of grow-ops discovered is increasing by 40 per cent per 
year.

* The average dollar value of the grow-ops discovered is between $100,000 
and $130,000.

In Abbotsford, the report lists a 196 per cent increase in marijuana 
cultivation files opened by police between 1997 and 2000.

In Chilliwack, that number is 200 per cent, and in Delta, a staggering 
1,293 per cent.

When the report was released, UCFV Prof. Darryl Plecas told the Abbotsford 
News: "The average person involved is 35 years old and has a 13-year 
criminal history. This report says we're talking a collection of criminals 
here.

"The tragedy occurs when young offenders or minority groups are drafted 
into trafficking - they're the ones with the greatest risk of getting caught."
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MAP posted-by: Alex