Pubdate: Tue, 09 Aug 2011 Source: Cape Breton Post (CN NS) Copyright: 2011 Cape Breton Post Contact: http://www.capebretonpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/777 TIME TO DECRIMINALIZE POT Fans of the classic Nova Scotia television show "Trailer Park Boys" likely remember the episode in which "the boys" hijacked Rita MacNeil's tour bus and forced MacNeil and her entourage into helping them harvest an outdoor marijuana grow-operation as they broke out in a spontaneous rendition of "Working Man." Well, it's coming on harvest time again for an agricultural commodity that's definitely not promoted by the provincial agricultural department's "Select Nova Scotia" campaign. And that means police in Nova Scotia will be again using a helicopter to scour the province's forests and fields in search of the one-to two-metre tall deep-green plants with the distinctive leaves composed of seven jagged fingers. The province's cops are also encouraging the public to call in if they stumble across a marijuana grow-op during their late-summer ramblings. "Community safety is everyone's responsibility and outdoor marijuana grow operations pose a danger to public health and safety," said RCMP Sgt. Keith MacKinnon in a recent release. Grow-ops can be dangerous, say the RCMP, because they can be booby-trapped and they're often associated with organized crime. The catch-22 is that they're booby-trapped and tied up with organized crime because growing marijuana is a criminal act unless one runs a sanctioned medical marijuana growing operation. Marijuana possession of a couple of grams, on the other hand, is much murkier from a police officer's perspective. For instance, in July, the Chronicle Herald ran a story about a Yarmouth driver who admitted to RCMP that he had smoked a joint while waiting to get through a traffic checkpoint. He could have been charged, but the Mounties decided to let him go after seizing the small amount of pot he had in his possession. Police tend not to charge people found to be in possession of small amounts of marijuana because the onslaught of charges would gum up the court system. But they can't turn a blind eye to grow-ops because, as they say, they're potentially dangerous. The only trouble is, not charging someone for possessing something that is illegal to produce is not only hypocritical, it's illogical. The government's position on marijuana is untenable. One option is to charge anyone caught growing, selling or possessing any amount of pot. Another option is to decriminalize and regulate the stuff as recommended by a Senate report back in 2002. The latter option makes just as much sense today as it did nine years ago. Marijuana is not innocuous and its recreational use shouldn't be encouraged by government. But, it is generally less harmful than alcohol and about 14 per cent of Canadians use it. And, whether we like it or not, marijuana has become an ingrained component of Canadian culture. That's been made clear by no less than Rita MacNeil. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.