Pubdate: Tue, 03 Jul 2012
Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
Copyright: 2012 The StarPhoenix
Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
Author: Mark Kennedy
Cited: The Global Commission on Drug Policy: 
http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/

MAJORITY OF CANADIANS FAVOUR DECRIMINALIZING MARIJUANA

OTTAWA - Two-thirds of Canadians think the law should be changed so 
that people caught with small amounts of marijuana no longer face 
criminal penalties or fines, a new poll has found.

The nationwide survey for Postmedia News and Global TV, which 
examined the state of Canadian values, revealed the public is 
distinctly offside with the Harper government on the issue.

Earlier this spring, Prime Minister Stephen Harper attended a summit 
of leaders from the Americas, where some called for a major review of 
the so-called "war on drugs," and perhaps even the decriminalization 
of some drug use. Also this year, Liberals at a policy conference 
passed a resolution endorsing the legalization of marijuana.

That came after similar calls last year from a Global Commission on 
Drug Policy, which numbers former presidents of Colombia and Mexico, 
former United States secretary of state George Schultz and former 
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan among its members. That 
group also urged nations to consider "experimentation" with "legal 
regulation of drugs" such as marijuana "to undermine the power of 
organized crime and safeguard the health and security of their citizens."

At the Summit of the Americas in April, Harper acknowledged that the 
international campaign to stem the drug trade isn't working, but he 
flatly rejected decriminalization as one potential solution.

However, the June 18-25 survey by Ipsos Reid found that Canadians are 
much more willing to entertain the idea.

It found that 66 per cent of people believe that "the possession of 
marijuana in small amounts" should be "decriminalized so that it no 
longer carries a penalty or fine." Another 34 per cent opposed the idea.

Support for decriminalization is strongest in Atlantic Canada (72 per 
cent) followed by British Columbia, Saskatchewan/Manitoba and Ontario 
- - in all three regions, support for decriminalization runs at 69 per cent.

Opposition to decriminalization is strongest in Alberta, where 42 per 
cent of people don't like the idea.

Ipsos Reid president Darrell Bricker said in an interview that the 
poll results are part of a trend in recent years which has seen 
support for decriminalization rising.

Ipsos Reid has conducted similar polls on the issue over the past 25 
years, and the data reveal that support is considerably higher now 
than it was in the past. In 1987, just 39 per cent supported 
decriminalization, rising to 55 per cent in 2003.

"It's all about tolerance," he said. "There's a general trend in 
Canadian values and it's really about, 'Live and let live. Don't tell 
me how to live my life. If you're different from me, that's OK. It's 
my job to learn how to tolerate that.'"

Moreover, he said the country has had "more experience" with marijuana.

"It's been a long time since Reefer Madness was a movie," he said of 
the 1936 cult film that warned of the dangers of marijuana use.

"We're a changing society. The culture is evolving."

The poll found that support for decriminalization is strongest among 
upper-income earners. Three-quarters of those earning more than 
$100,000 a year think it should be decriminalized.

Fifty-eight per cent of those living in households with children 
supported decriminalization, while the figure rose to 67 per cent for 
those in households without kids.

At the Summit of the Americas, the leaders of Guatemala, Colombia, 
Mexico and Costa Rica spoke out in favour of exploring new approaches 
to the drug trade.

They noted that drug cartels have grown more powerful as violence 
spreads throughout the region - claiming more than 50,000 lives in 
Mexico alone - and that drug use has only increased in rich nations 
such as Canada and the United States.

By the end of the summit, leaders agreed to step up the fight against 
the drug trade, but there was no consensus on the merits of 
decriminalization. Canada and the U.S. strongly opposed that option.

Harper said that while the "current approach is not working" and that 
countries must continue to fight transnational criminal networks, it 
isn't clear what should be done.

He spoke of how troubled he is by the continued "penetration" of the 
drug trade throughout Canadian society, in both urban and rural areas.

But he cautioned against "simple answers" such as decriminalization.

"Let me remind you of why these drugs are illegal. They are illegal 
because they quickly and totally - with many of the drugs - destroy 
people's lives and people are willing to make lots of money out of 
selling those products to people and destroying their lives. "And no 
amount of law - whether it's having the approach in the Muslim world 
to execution, all the way to full legalization, nothing is going to 
prevent the reality that this is a trade, people attempting to make 
rich by destroying people's lives. It's that simple."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom