Pubdate: Tue, 13 Nov 2012
Source: Chilliwack Progress (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 The Chilliwack Progress
Contact: http://www.theprogress.com/contact_us/
Website: http://www.theprogress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/562
Author: Margaret Evans

MARIJUANA VOTE A GAME-CHANGER FOR CANADA

Prime Minister Stephen Harper may be dismissive about the fact that
the states of Washington and Colorado voted in favour of legalizing
marijuana last week, but they have set the stage for a game changer,
however complicated.

Ironically, last Tuesday's vote on the day of the U.S. election fell
on the same day that the Harper government's Safe Streets and
Communities Act with tougher drug possession laws came into effect.

Whether Harper likes it or not, individual states in the U.S. are
inching forward while Canada's drug laws are going backwards.

The game changer is that Colorado and Washington are the first states
to vote in favour of the sale and use of small amounts of recreational
marijuana. Medical marijuana laws have existed in some states for well
over a decade (California was the first to legalize medical marijuana
use in 1996) and Canada has a formal system to regulate the medicinal
use of the plant. In the U.S., 18 states and the District of Columbia
(over one third of the country) now have similar laws in play. In
2011, the medical marijuana business was worth US$1.7 billion and growing.

Granted, enacting the voting outcome in Colorado and Washington is
going to be a complicated and probably lengthy process for policy
makers. They have to find ways to reconcile state law with U.S.
federal law under which marijuana is illegal. But the forces of change
to repeal prohibition have been nipping at the heels of policy makers
for decades

Prohibition doesn't work. It didn't work during the prohibition era
outlawing alcohol (1920-1933) and it is a complete failure now. All it
has done is drive drug use underground and put countless millions of
dollars into the hands of criminals who incite violence on city
streets in their ongoing turf wars. Millions of dollars from the
public purse have been spent on law enforcement and the justice and
legal systems to stop something clearly unstoppable.

Meanwhile, people addicted to hard drugs suffer devastating health
consequences. And just for the record, the use of marijuana is not a
proven gateway drug to the use of hard drugs. Thousands who enjoy pot
socially never go on to using heroin or cocaine.

Legalizing, regulating and taxing marijuana would put those commercial
dollars into the hands of licensed growers, sellers and government
regulators just like alcohol. Tax revenues could be invested into
broad-spectre health needs of Canadians battling drug addiction issues
at all levels, helping them return to productive lives.

As much as PM Harper is stubbornly against decriminalizing or
legalizing marijuana, he's going to have to recognize that popular
opinion is shifting away from policy crackdowns to new, more efficient
and effective ways to deal with the soft drug issue.

An Angus Reid poll conducted in mid-October for Stop the Violence BC
found that 75 per cent of B.C. respondents support regulating and
taxing marijuana, a jump of six per cent from polls a year ago. This
latest poll mirrors the dissatisfaction for the status quo across
political, social, economic and regional lines and underscores the
degree to which the mindset of the Harper government is out of touch
with the will of British Columbians.

Stop the Violence BC is a coalition of law enforcement officials,
legal experts, medical and public health officials, and academic
experts concerned about the links between marijuana prohibition and
the growth of organized crime. A report released last winter concluded
that increased funding for marijuana law enforcement fails to decrease
production, supply, potency or use. In fact, research suggests
regulation could actually reduce pot use in young people.

Washington and Colorado voters have taken a progressive step forward.
Now it's our turn.
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MAP posted-by: Matt