Pubdate: Thu, 26 Jan 2012 Source: Windsor Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2012 The Windsor Star Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/PTv2GKdw Website: http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501 Author: Ian Mulgrew, Columnist, The Windsor Star CASE TO LEGALIZE POT A new poll suggests Canada may have reached the tipping point and a 66-per-cent majority favours legalizing marijuana. Hallelujah! Finally we might get a sensible public policy discussion in this country about what to do about a relatively benign substance that has been demonized and outlawed for a century yet is as readily available in schoolyards as cigarettes. Prohibition and a 40-yearlong "war on drugs" have led to pot being more widely accessible, taxpayers considerably poorer, gangs richer and thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens branded "criminal." Another 50,000 or so Canadians are busted every year for possession; throw in 20,000 or so traffickers and producers, and this so-called war is costing us as much as $400 million annually in law enforcement, court and corrections. Bearing in mind a million dollars a year buys roughly 12 new cops, 14 teachers or public health nurses, ask yourself: Couldn't all that money be better spent? The federal Liberal party obviously thinks so - 77 per cent of delegates at the convention two weeks ago voted to legalize the herb, echoing the Senate special committee on illegal drugs (chaired by a Conservative), which 10 years ago urged the government to free the weed. Four decades ago, the Le Dain Commission similarly called for an end to the criminal prohibition of cannabis. Across the country today, more and more people agree. Conducted Dec. 13 by Toronto-based Forum Research Inc. and released last week, the latest poll of 1,160 respondents 18 or older showed that residents of B.C. were the most likely to support pot-law reform, with 73 per cent wanting change. Who's leading the way? Those aged 55 to 64. Why? Yes, there are a lot of old hippies. But of all the age cohorts, the middle-aged and elderly, the late-boomers, are learning faster than most that marijuana may be the Aspirin of the 21st century. Medicinal marijuana is changing the debate about pot across the continent. From cancer patients fighting nausea from chemotherapy to those suffering from glaucoma, Crohn's disease and other ailments, pot brings therapeutic relief unavailable from pharmaceutical products. Its growing and widespread use is erasing old stoner stereotypes and triggering a more grown-up adult conversation about the weed. And money is driving it - not just the prospect of future tax revenue estimated in the billions, but fortunes are being made right now from medical marijuana. In some U.S. states with medpot programs, big box stores have opened selling hydroponic gear, specialized equipment and supplies for growers. Ending the criminal prohibition of marijuana does not mean making it freely available - it means regulating it as we do alcohol and tobacco, far more dangerous substances. Portugal legalized pot and other drugs a decade ago and the sky did not fall: European drug addicts did not flock to the country nor did Spain suffer the feared nasty side-effects. This poll should spur the federal government to rethink its crime legislation and to begin a discussion about different models of legalization. Recreational pot-smoking could be dealt with as we have battled the more deadly use of tobacco - with public health campaigns and education. No one has gone to jail for taking a cigarette break or been busted for grabbing a quick puff, yet we've driven down use and tobacco has far less cachet today. The hipster attraction of marijuana can be similarly attacked without exposing our children to criminal prosecution and the risk of a record following them for life. Let's treat marijuana and other drugs as a health issue rather than a crime. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.