Pubdate: Tue, 7 Apr 2009
Source: Banner, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2009 The Orangeville Banner
Contact:  http://www.orangeville.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2217
Author: Rob Strang
Note: Rob Strang is a former Orangeville town councillor, an engineer 
and a self-employed father of three, committed to promoting 
sustainable development.
Referenced: Report of the Senate Special Committee On Illegal Drugs 
http://www.senatereport.ca/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Marijuana - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?224 (Marijuana and Driving)

TIME TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA

I was in the liquor store the other day buying some coffee liqueur. 
Although I normally go for the big name brand, I thought I would try 
for the 100- mile diet.  Sure enough, I could save 25 per cent off 
the price and stimulate the local economy by purchasing a product 
made in Grimsby, not 80 miles away.

It was six per cent higher in alcohol to boot. Checking this fact 
reminded me of my student days in university when our house had an 
all-night Godzilla film festival.  I was in charge of the 
refreshments and had strict orders to get the most alcohol for the buck.

I did the math, cents per millilitre of alcohol. It turned out that 
Canadian Sauterne was the most economical buzz. We were too young to 
kid ourselves; we were going to a store dedicated to selling a drug. 
Different concentrations, different flavours, carbonated or mixed, 
all a medium for delivering a psychoactive substance sanctioned by 
our society to give us a legal high.

I'm a bit surprised that in the 30 years since our Godzilla festival, 
alcohol has kept its status while cannabis has remained outside the 
law. I'm wondering if these tough times might bring some objective 
thinking about what the cost of chasing dope-smoking youth and the 
benefits of regulating and taxing the dreaded weed.

Wouldn't it be better to have people buy joints from the liquor 
store, labelled with the THC content, quality assured, grown by a 
licenced farmer, with the appropriate taxes funding something 
worthwhile rather than a black market?

It's time to dust off the Report of the Senate Special Committee On 
Illegal Drugs, that was published in 2002.  Rather than diss the 
Senate for allegedly doing nothing, let's listen to one of the many 
good reports that senators have produced. Noteworthy in this report 
are the findings that, "used in moderation, cannabis in itself poses 
very little danger to users and to society as a whole" and that 
cannabis itself was not a cause of other drug use and therefore was 
not a gateway drug.  The Senators also found that keeping marijuana 
use illegal was not reducing its use.

Of course for heavy users, bronchitis and lung cancer come with the 
smoke and although addiction is an issue, the data showed that 
dependence on grass is less frequent and less severe than with 
alcohol or cigarettes. Most surprising was the report's finding that 
"cannabis leads to a more cautious style of driving", although 
cannabis and alcohol combined is worse than the alcohol alone.

I'm not a smoker of any sort and have no intention of becoming one, 
but these days we can't afford useless laws that waste taxpayers 
money and benefit organized crime. I think it's time our politicians 
took on the issue and come up with a law that reflects reality and 
common sense.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake