Pubdate: Mon, 07 May 2012
Source: Prince George Citizen (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Prince George Citizen
Contact:  http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/350
Author: Ted Clarke

FORMER MAYOR FAVOURS POT DECRIMINALIZATION

If Colin Kinsley was still the boss of Prince George city hall, there 
might be a ninth name on that list of eight B.C. mayors in favour of 
decriminalization of marijuana.

He's on side with the mayors of Vancouver, Burnaby, North Vancouver, 
Vernon, Armstrong, Enderby, Lake Country and Metchosin in their stand 
against the current federal pot laws, contained in a letter sent 
April 26 to Premier Christy Clark, Opposition NDP leader Adrian Dix 
and Conservative leader John Cummins.

"I couldn't agree more," said Kinsley. "I wouldn't want to see it 
legalized, but decriminalized. You have to go after the grow-ops and 
go after organized crime and that sort of stuff. It's not serving any 
purpose to have the police chase after users and all the time it 
takes up in the courts. I think they should look at ways so it's not 
a burden upon our enforcement officials and on our court system."

The Organized Crime Agency of BC estimates 85 per cent of B.C.'s 
marijuana trade is controlled by criminal groups. A 2004 study by the 
Fraser Institute pegged the value of the annual crop of pot produced 
in the province, if broken down into individual joints sold at street 
prices, at $7 billion. The study also claimed that if pot was 
decriminalized and sold in Canada as a legal product , the B.C. 
government could claim $2 billion in taxes.

Current Prince George mayor Shari Green said because marijuana laws 
are a federal jurisdiction, she's not about to go public on whether 
she favours decriminalization or not.

"I know there are a few mayors out there that have a comment, but for 
me, it's a federal issue, not something I've waded into," Green said. 
"I'm pretty focused on stuff going on at city hall so it's not 
something I have an opinion on, one way or another. It's a federal 
issue and they need to have some form of a national debate to figure 
out where to go from here, but with our current system I don't think 
we'll see much of a change. There's no question we have a gang issue 
and drug trade and organized crime go hand in hand, and it's an 
expensive battle to fight. But until the federal level makes a 
change, we have what we have and we do what we need to do to combat it."

In March, the Conservative federal government passed its omnibus 
crime bill, which calls for tougher drug penalties, including minimum 
mandatory sentences for minor offences. Critics say the new law will 
allow organized criminals to tighten their grip on the marijuana 
industry instead of having the intended effect of creating safer communities.

"Prohibition [against alcohol] in the United States brought organized 
crime to North America," said Kinsley. "And from what I've seen, 
alcohol causes a lot more harm than marijuana. It's like the same 
thing with prostitution, it's all in the hands of the bike gangs. 
[The federal government's] idea is that if there's no pot and no 
users then there will be no grow-ops, but the fact of the matter is 
you have to takes the wins that you can get."

Kinsley served as Prince George mayor from December 1996 to November 
2008. He's the current chair of Enbridge's Northern Gateway Alliance 
pipeline project and also serves as a director for the Spirit of the 
North Healthcare Foundation.

He doesn't smoke marijuana himself, but says he's well familiar with 
the smell of "B.C. skunk weed."

"I've not been a marijuana user but I've been around it lots, as we 
all have, growing up," said Kinsley. "There are a lot worse things 
out there than that."

According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 44 per cent 
of Canadians say they have used marijuana at least once in their 
lifetime. Green admits she smoked pot "just once" 25 years ago.

"I can quite honestly say I did try it when I was a teenager and I've 
never touched it since," Green said. "It didn't do anything for me 
and I didn't see the point. It doesn't exist in our household."

John Backhouse, Prince George mayor from 1987-1996, declined comment 
on the marijuana decriminalization question. Dan Rogers, who took 
over from Kinsley as mayor in 2008, also declined comment.

"I'm keeping a low profile now, after 20 years in the public eye, I'm 
enjoying the quietness," said Rogers, hired last week as director of 
sales and marketing for the Carbon Offset Aggregation Cooperative.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart