Pubdate: Sat, 25 Jun 2005
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

CANADA CAN AND SHOULD FIND ALTERNATIVES TO PROHIBITION OF POT

The City of Vancouver has delivered the latest salvo in the war on 
the war on marijuana, and the city's position falls neatly in line 
with that of many drug-war critics, including the Senate committee on 
marijuana and, indeed, The Vancouver Sun. (The Sun called for 
marijuana legalization as far back as 2000.)

The city's report, Preventing Harm from Psychoactive Substance Use, 
recommends that the federal government legalize both the possession 
of, and trade, in marijuana. This is a far cry from Ottawa's proposed 
legislation, which would decriminalize possession, but leave 
trafficking offences as they are and actually increase penalties for 
marijuana cultivation.

Consequently, while saving many youth from being saddled with a 
criminal record, the proposed legislation is still a form of 
marijuana prohibition: If the legislation is passed, it will remain 
illegal to grow, possess or sell marijuana.

Thus the legislation is subject to all the criticisms that apply to 
any form of drug prohibition. As the Senate report and The Sun's 2004 
series on marijuana law reform make clear, those criticisms are devastating.

Perhaps the most important criticism of prohibition is that it 
doesn't work. The stated aim of prohibitionists -- to reduce the 
supply of, and demand for, marijuana -- has never been realized. 
Despite Canada's historically strict drug laws, marijuana use 
continues to climb, with more than 44 per cent of Canadians reporting 
in the 2004 Canadian Addiction Survey that they've smoked a joint. 
That's a whopping increase from the 28.7 per cent that reported 
trying the drug a decade ago. (According to the Canadian Centre on 
Substance Abuse, 51 per cent of British Columbians report having 
tried marijuana.)

The United States, which maintains some of the most draconian drug 
laws in the world, also reports high use levels, while fewer than 20 
per cent of the people in the Netherlands, which de facto legalized 
possession 30 years ago, have smoked marijuana.

It's clear, then, that prohibition laws have no effect on marijuana 
use. They also don't have any effect on supply, as most Canadians 
report that it's either easy or very easy to obtain pot. Further, 
evidence from around the world confirms that the likelihood of 
getting caught also fails to influence the rate of marijuana use.

So it's more than a little odd that former justice minister Martin 
Cauchon, in introducing the feds' proposed legislation, said the 
stiffer penalties for marijuana cultivation are evidence of the 
government's commitment to stemming the supply.

The other convincing argument that's been levelled against 
prohibition is that criminalizing marijuana provides a boon for 
organized crime. Crime syndicates have made billions of dollars from 
selling marijuana and other drugs -- the United Nations estimates 
that the drug trade accounts for eight per cent of all international 
trade -- while Canadian governments have spent billions in a futile 
attempt to stop them.

Those attempts to halt pot production and distribution have often led 
to violence. And while law enforcement targeted at a specific 
organization can effectively shut down its operations (as occurred 
with Montreal's Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels), nature abhors a 
vacuum, and other crime groups inevitably step in.

In addition to money spent on enforcement, Canadians are on the hook 
for providing room and board for the many people imprisoned for 
marijuana-related offences. The problem is only growing worse: 
According to city council's report, "The cannabis offence rate has 
risen almost 80 per cent between 1992 and 2002, mostly due to the 
increased number of possession offences."

Aside from these well-known criticisms of prohibition, city council 
points to others that focus directly on the marijuana user. As long 
as drugs are prohibited, there's no way for government to regulate 
them, and thereby control the purity of the product and the veracity 
of the labelling.

Black-market pot may or may not be the real thing, and may be 
contaminated with any number of toxic substances. There currently 
exists no quality control in the marijuana industry, which means the 
44 per cent of Canadians who have tried the drug, and the many who 
will continue to use it, have no way of knowing if it's safe.

In fact, the Senate report surmises that the recent marked increase 
in the potency of marijuana is a direct result of its 
criminalization. To reduce the chances of getting caught, smugglers 
prefer to carry small amounts of powerful drugs rather than being 
saddled with large amounts of weak ones.

That Canadians must get marijuana from the criminal underground also 
increases the chances that they'll be introduced to other drugs, 
substances that pose far greater threats than pot. While there's no 
evidence marijuana itself is a "gateway" drug, there is evidence that 
its association with drug gangsters increases the chances of 
marijuana users trying other drugs.

It might seem ironic that city council's call for legalization comes 
within a report concerning prevention. But the fact is that as long 
as marijuana remains illegal, disproportionate sums of money will go 
toward enforcement, rather than toward programs that educate 
Canadians about the risks associated with marijuana use and advocate 
on behalf of abstention or responsible use.

There's abundant evidence that these problems can be either 
eliminated, or at least alleviated, simply by legalizing, and 
strictly regulating the production, sale and purchase of marijuana. 
There is scant evidence legalization will produce new problems of its 
own, such as an increase in use.

Better yet, we already have a regulatory regime in place that could 
act as a model for the regulation of marijuana. As city council's 
report details, a regulatory system similar to that governing alcohol 
could ensure proper quality controls on the production and sale of 
marijuana, control the availability of the drug, allow for deterrence 
and punishment of those who engage in dangerous behaviour, such as 
driving under the influence of pot, and help to develop effective 
prevention and responsible use strategies.

In addition, by taxing the sale of marijuana, governments could stop 
wasting money on futile enforcement efforts and instead use the 
windfall to provide education and prevention programs, and help to 
fund Canada's health care system.

Perhaps the greatest obstacle to legalization concerns Canada's 
international obligations and its relationship with the U.S. Canada 
is party to several international treaties that require it to 
maintain a prohibition on the sale of marijuana, and the U.S., which 
favours continuing the war on drugs, has already expressed its 
displeasure with Ottawa's plans to decriminalize possession.

Yet many countries in Central and South America -- countries that 
have been devastated by the war on drugs -- and many European 
jurisdictions recognize the folly of this war. These countries, whose 
populations make up the bulk of marijuana producers and consumers, 
are unquestionably open to considering alternatives to prohibition.

Canada, as a world leader in justice and human rights, could play a 
pivotal role in promoting discussions about alternatives to 
prohibition. The U.S. might remain intransigent, but a concerted 
international effort aimed at promoting the benefits of legalization 
could eventually sway the Americans.

This is a task Ottawa should take on.
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MAP posted-by: Beth