Pubdate: Fri, 07 Apr 2006
Source: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser (CN ON)
Copyright: 2006 Metroland Printing, Publishing, & Distributing, LTD
Contact:  http://www.durhamregion.com/dr/info/ajax/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2104
Author: Jeff Mitchell
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

WANT TO SEE CRIMINAL DOPE PROCEEDS GO UP IN SMOKE?

The new Conservative government in Ottawa is right on track in 
hinting they'll not pursue the previous administration's plans to 
decriminalize marijuana. In fact, they should go one step further.

Legalize it.

This is not a plea to liberalize attitudes towards the use of the 
drug so much as a suggestion legalization may help to fight, if not 
eliminate, the criminal activity that surrounds it.

When it comes to pot, there are certain undeniable truths. First is 
this: People have always smoked dope and they always will. The second 
is that the value of marijuana, like petroleum and other tightly 
controlled substances, is directly affected by the quantity available 
and the demand for it.

Criminals take over houses in our neighbourhoods and fill them with 
marijuana plants because there are people lining up to buy illicit 
weed. No amount of hand-wringing and tough-talking will change that. 
The police have been fighting a losing battle against marijuana since 
the day it was outlawed and they will continue to, especially if 
there's a renewed call to crack down on simple possession. Arrests 
may rise, but is the burden placed on the police and courts in 
dealing with these petty crimes worth it?

Want to cut bikers and other gangsters out of the production and 
trafficking of pot? Eliminate the middle man. Allowing law-abiding 
Canadians to grow their own -- say, a couple plants, maximum -- could 
go a long way toward doing so.

Controls would have to be put in place, of course. Legalized dope 
shouldn't be allowed until there's an effective way of testing 
drivers for marijuana impairment, for instance, and no one under the 
age of majority should be permitted to use it. Marijuana, like booze, 
should not be possessed outside of one's residence.

And the feds should keep trafficking and large-scale production of 
marijuana on the books as a serious crime to address concerns about 
gang involvement.

Sounds simplistic, but it makes sense. Legalization of marijuana 
could free up the police, the Crowns and the courts to pursue the 
purveyors of destructive drugs such as cocaine, heroin, 
methamphetamine and ecstasy.

Canadian society as we know it will not crumble if we chuck 
antiquated laws and attitudes towards marijuana. What may be 
adversely affected are criminal profits from the stuff.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman