Pubdate: Wed, 23 Mar 2005 Source: Maple Ridge News (CN BC) Copyright: 2005 Maple Ridge News Contact: http://www.mapleridgenews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1328 Author: Tim Tyler Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion) LEGALIZE POT: EVERYONE'S SMOKIN' AND GROWIN' IT ALREADY Alright, I've smoked marijuana, but like Bill Clinton, I didn't inhale. I couldn't. I've never smoked cigarettes. My mechanics are lousy (cough, cough, cough). So when I first tried pot back in the early 70's, I was one of those who threw up their hands and said, "what's the big deal?" -after I stopped coughing. I got high twice: once while driving a car load of pot heads from the Cariboo down to Vancouver -the car was so full of smoke I could hardly see the road -and again after ingesting a cookie containing hashish. I started seeing things and had to lie down. It scared the crap out of me. From then on it was strictly booze for this party animal. The marijuana culture has certainly changed since those heady days of flared pants and peace symbol-belt buckles, head bands and the $5 bag. The pot is a lot more potent and more plentiful and our attitudes towards its use have changed. While it's not rare to find someone who hasn't taken a joint in hand at a rock concert or a party or a barbeque or at work (hey man, when's lunch?), it is highly unusual to find anyone who will deny knowing someone who has tried pot (did that make sense? I've gotta stop smoking while I write this.). It's pervasive. It's production boggles the mind like a hash cookie - -80,000 kilograms in B.C .in 2003. That's $2 billion wholesale, almost $8 billion retail -enough to buy the Canucks and the Lions and a new Hummer. It's our biggest cash crop and nationally equal to the size of the cattle industry, according to an article in the a Vancouver daily.. And as illegal as insider trading, Martha. And there's the buzz: it's the increasingly futile war against drugs, the effort to enforce the law - and not drug use -that has caused most of the social, political, legal and moral problems associated with pot. Police are increasingly unable or unwilling to enforce the pot laws at the risk of neglecting other, more serious issues, Fewer offenders are being taken to court, fewer are ending up in prison. The price of getting caught is just an operating cost for most pot growers, many of whom are members of organized crime. In the '60s and '70s when I was trying to cough my way into the subculture most of yer dope was grown by what they call mom and pop operations, garden and greenhouse plots, small stuff to make enough money to pay the rent and buy the groceries. Ottawa's efforts to decriminalize possession for small amounts only hurts the little guy and does nothing to deter organized crime who will continue to answer the demand for high quality weed undeterred by the law. The solution? Legalization. It would remove to a certain extent the presence of organized crime and government would be able to control the quality of pot and introduce programs aimed at responsible use and prevention, much like they do with booze and tobacco -our two most favoured drugs. Rather than buying weed of unknown origins from some aging hippie or a Harley pilot in the washroom of the local strip joint, you could just go into the mall and buy it from a government approved outlet complete with Pot Stewards to advise you on strength, age etc: "Oh have you tried the new Bud Light?" All very civil and above board and bound to create another bureaucratic nightmare but it will sure free up lots of cops and money to battle other forms of crime. The way it is now some jurisdictions are trying to enlist the aid of garbage collectors, meter readers and letter carriers (!) in their fight against marijuana grow-ops. It's enough I have to deal with the dogs and the weather and the mail thieves, now they want me to bust pot growers? Sure it ain't good for you, it has lots of carcinogens and often turns you into a babbling ravenous lunatic. But hell, so does the booze. We have to take some responsibility for our own choices. Some will, some won't. The abusers can face the consequences, the casual user can get out the beads and the tie dye shirt, put on the Moody Blues or the Jefferson Starship and take a trip down memory lane. And the best part - it'll really piss off the Americans. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin