Pubdate: Wed, 02 May 2012
Source: Burnaby Now, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.burnabynow.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1592
Author: Janaya Fuller-Evans
Cited: Stop the Violence BC: http://stoptheviolencebc.org/

CORRIGAN JOINS POT MOVEMENT

Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan put his name on the dotted line Thursday,
calling for marijuana to be taxed and regulated, along with seven
other B.C. mayors.

The open letter to Premier Christy Clark; Adrian Dix, leader of the
B.C. New Democrats; and John Cummins, leader of the B.C. Conservative
Party, comes on the heels of a similar letter from four former
Vancouver mayors last December and one from four former B.C. attorneys
general in February.

Corrigan told the NOW in December that while he personally supported
an end to pot prohibition, he would not make a public statement in his
official capacity as a sitting mayor.

When asked why he changed his position on that, Corrigan said the
health and safety concerns were a factor.

"I thought the fact that we had seen a coalition of ex-mayors, and
ex-attorneys general and health professionals taking a stand on this
issue really meant we had to take it to the next step, which is
elected officials taking a position," he said in a phone interview
Thursday.

Prohibition has not stopped the production and distribution of
marijuana, Corrigan said, but it has lined the pockets of criminals,
much like alcohol prohibition before it.

"We know alcohol prohibition didn't work. That doesn't mean there
aren't problems with alcohol because there are - it still is a serious
problem in our society, but prohibition simply turned the distribution
of alcohol over to a criminal element," he said.

"We saw the rise of Al Capone-like figures making their money off of
prohibition, and the same thing is happening with marijuana," Corrigan
added. "People are making fortunes off of the distribution of
marijuana illegally and in fact, we're not curing the problem at all,
we're just pushing it underground. I think it's much better to take
the attitude as we do with alcohol and cigarettes that while it is a
vice, it's something that should be done in an upfront manner, the
government should regulate and tax it, and there should be controls
placed on it."

He disputed the idea that legalizing marijuana in Canada wouldn't be
worthwhile so long as it's still illegal in the United States.

The effect on young Canadian's lives is a factor as well, he
said.

"I think that the fact that we continue to give young people criminal
records for this offense and continue to have people who live with the
stigma of a criminal record for the use of marijuana is a serious
problem," Corrigan said, "one that has individual effects that are way
in excess of the act."

While he doesn't see things changing tomorrow, he hopes that
provincial governments will begin to support a change to the current
laws, he said.

"I think it is part of a building process," Corrigan said. "Polls and
general public opinion indicate that the public wants to find a way to
resolve the issue. They want to find a way to regulate rather than
prohibit, and they want to find a way that they can discourage the use
of marijuana among young people, and end the lock that crime has on
the production of marijuana and distribution of marijuana."

He hopes this is a movement that spreads across the rest of Canada,
and that the issue plays a part in the next federal election, he added.

The open letter - signed by Mayor Corrigan as well as the mayors of
Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver, the District of Lake Country,
Armstrong, Vernon, Enderby, and Metchosin - was put forward by the
Stop the Violence B.C. coalition.

The criminal justice system is overburdened and needs to focus its
resources on serious crime, according to Neil Boyd, a professor with
Simon Fraser University's school of criminology.

Boyd joined the Stop the Violence B.C. coalition after being
approached by Dr. Evan Wood, who started the coalition.

Boyd spoke to the NOW in February, saying he has advocated for
marijuana law reform for many years.

"Unlike the other illegal drugs, which are used by less than one per
cent of the population, marijuana is used by more than 10 per cent of
the population," he said. "Given that it isn't nearly as dangerous a
drug, for most people in most circumstances, from a public health
perspective, as alcohol or tobacco."

The focus on the issue by former and current public figures followed a
number of public shootings in Vancouver and Surrey during the winter,
which police have indicated are likely gang-related.

The most high profile incident was the shooting death of Sandip Duhre
at the Wall Centre Hotel in Vancouver on Jan. 17.

An Angus Reid poll, commissioned by the coalition this winter, that
found that 77 per cent of British Columbians did not agree that
marijuana possession should be a criminal offence and that 78 per cent
said they were dissatisfied with the way politicians at the provincial
level responded to problems stemming from the illegal marijuana industry.

Julie Di Mambro, press secretary for federal justice minister Rob
Nicholson, did not address the issue of legalization in her statement
to the NOW in February but made it clear things are not going to
change any time soon.

"Our government is committed to ensuring criminals are held fully
accountable for their actions and that the safety and security of
law-abiding Canadians come first in Canada's judicial system," she
wrote in an email. "We will continue to fight crime and protect
Canadians so that our communities are safe places for people to live,
raise their families and do business."

For the entire open letter from the mayors, go to www.stoptheviolencebc.org
and click on the link for B.C. Mayors Call for Taxation and Regulation
of Marijuana. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D