Pubdate: Mon, 28 Mar 2005 Source: Record, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2005 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc. Contact: http://www.royalcityrecord.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1654 OUR VIEW: TIME FOR A POT REVIEW The murder of four RCMP officers in Alberta has spawned a national debate on the issue of marijuana cultivation and its use and forced the Liberals to shelve for the moment plans to decriminalize possession of small amounts of the drug. That pause could be a positive starting point for reassessment of our pot laws. While we are supportive of efforts to legalize pot possession for personal adult use (but with penalties for driving under its influence), we were never fans of the Liberals' wishy-washy approach. With Bill C-38 in place, we envisaged cops writing pot tickets much like they write traffic tickets: partly for deterrence, but also because they can and because it raises money to pay for more policing. The Liberals have also proposed strengthening penalties for marijuana cultivation, doubtless to quiet U.S. critics. Of course, there are penalties in place already - although looking at sentencing would suggest there is no court will to have them applied in a meaningful way. But the problem with a draconian approach to punishing pot growers is twofold. Firstly, it is already proven that prohibition does not work. Secondly, the so-called mom-and-pop operations would fold in the face of severe risk and the remaining element of free-enterprise pot cultivation would fall into the hands of organized crime. Legalization advocates argue a different end result. Perhaps it is time to debate how to take organized crime out of pot-growing, not pot laws. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh