Pubdate: Fri, 06 Jun 2003 Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB) Copyright: 2003 The Edmonton Journal Contact: http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?224 (Cannabis and Driving) POT LAW A CAREFULLY MEASURED STEP The federal government is doing the right thing with its very modest experimental step away from full criminalization of marijuana. Certainly, Canadian drug policy has fallen short of a complete handover to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. Nevertheless, in the end Ottawa clearly tried hard to minimize the upset in Wasington. In fact, the decision to fine people caught with less than 15 grams of marijuana is still more punitive than laws in several key U.S. states including California, and eastern border states New York, Maine and Minnesota. In addition, the legislation introduced by Justice Minister Martin Cauchon is rightly accompanied by efforts to make sure that use of the drug does not increase as a result. Finally, if it keeps its word, the government will divert police and justice-system resources that are now frittered away on trivial marijuana-possession prosecutions to a more concentrated assault on Canadian growers and distributors of the drug. True, this argument does not address moral concerns about tolerating an illegal drug. Nor does it question the idea that U.S. opinion is a legitimate factor in a decision on Canadians' health and behaviour. After all, as a journalist in the New York Times wrote recently, in an article reacting to the new Canadian law: "The prohibition of marijuana in the United States has historically been driven more by a fear and dislike of people associated with it than by reasoned consideration of its actual harm. The laws have been used to sanction racial minorities and nonconformists." In other words, the U.S. administration's hardline approach to soft drugs is driven more by apprehension over the societal impacts of the "drug culture" than by any evidence over how effective criminalization and tough sentencing have proven. Even so, Ottawa's concern about U.S. opinion is practical, not moral. It matters if changes to Canadian law can potentially disrupt cross-border traffic and police co-operation. And in this country, the issue is practical as well: What set of marijuana policies will do the most good and the least harm to the population? More than 30 years ago, the LeDain Commission on the non-medical use of drugs concluded that full legalization of marijuana possession was appropriate, given the modest impact of the drug on health. The current bill, which replaces criminal prosecution with a package of steep fines, doesn't go anywhere near that far. For those worried the lighter penalties could signal approval of the illegal drug, it's possible the new legislation actually could lead to more stringent law enforcement. Even now, in Edmonton, a full prosecution isn't always undertaken; one of the things Canadians will find out after a year or two of the new law is whether police will take more aggressive action when they know the maximum penalty is "only" a fine of $400 for adults. It is often argued that relaxing the law will lead to increased use of the drug, and from there to more use of harder and more addictive substances. In fact, however, evidence from the United States is that this does not happen; the U.S. National Research Council found in 2001 that there doesn't appear to be a trend toward greater use where the law is more relaxed, adding that "the perceived legal risk explains very little in the variance of individual drug use." As Health Minister Anne McLellan has said - and underlined her point with a new $240-million education and enforcement campaign against marijuana - none of this is meant to argue that marijuana is good for people, or that existing use of the drug is acceptable. Clearly, it presents a danger in the form of impaired driving or equipment use - and is more difficult for police to detect. As well, it has health risks similar to tobacco. But right now, a country that treats possession of tobacco and alcohol quite differently is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on more than 20,000 marijuana-possession prosecutions a year - without accomplishing the goal of halting the drug's use. We should try the new law, continue explaining to the Americans how incremental it is, and review it when we have hard evidence to back up or discredit our fears. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager