Pubdate: Wed, 11 Dec 2002
Source: Quesnel Cariboo Observer (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 Quesnel Cariboo Observer
Contact:  http://www.quesnelobserver.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1260
Author: Neil Horner

NEW POT LAW ON RIGHT TRACK

At last.

This week federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon announced that long 
overdue changes to the way Canada deals with the non-medical drug situation 
will soon be tabled in the House of Commons.

It's well past time. The new laws being discussed now make a whole lot more 
sense than the American-style War on Drugs" that has been the order of the 
day for so long. Rather than lumping pot smokers with a criminal record, 
the new law being discussed would decriminalize the possession of small 
amounts of marijuana for personal use. Instead, they will be handed a fine, 
rather like a parking ticket. As it stands, someone with 30 grams of pot on 
their person could be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $1,000.

True, that extreme sort of sentence is rarely if ever carried out, and for 
a very good reason. Judges are fully aware that this is an unreasonable 
penalty for a minor offence and they are simply unwilling to impose such an 
overly harsh punishment. That being the case, it makes sense to realize 
that this law should be changed.

Meanwhile, under our present system, far too many police hours and 
resources are being spent on rounding up and prosecuting pot smokers. 
Perhaps under the new regime, police officers who now spend their time 
sniffing out the smell of marijuana can use their time more constructively 
by solving crimes that actually involve violence or theft.

Let's get real here. The "War on Drugs" is a failure. It failed long ago, 
actually, but our government has consistently failed to recognize that 
fact. It appears they have finally done so. Let's hope they follow up on 
that realization.
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MAP posted-by: Beth