Pubdate: Mon, 21 Jan 2013
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2013 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Authors: Evan Wood and Werner Antweiler
Note: Dr. Evan Wood is a professor of medicine at the University of 
British Columbia (UBC) where he holds the Canada Research Chair in 
Inner City Medicine. Dr. Werner Antweiler is a professor of economics 
at the Sauder School of Business at UBC.
Page: A10

FOLLOW IN AMERICA'S FOOTSTEPS

While more and more U.S. states move to liberalize marijuana laws, 
Canada is going in the opposite direction

As of November, any Canadian caught with as few as six cannabis 
plants faces a mandatory six-month minimum prison term. Ironically, 
the new rules came into effect at the same time that Washington state 
and Colorado voted to tax and regulate the recreational use of 
marijuana by adults.

The results of the legalization measures in those states came as a 
surprise to many Canadians, including, presumably, Prime Minister 
Stephen Harper. When asked about the four former Vancouver mayors who 
publicly support the regulation and taxation of marijuana in Canada, 
he argued "it would inhibit our trade generally because they're 
certainly not going to make that move in the United States."

That may have been true in the past, but Canada has fallen way behind 
the U.S. when it comes to progressive drug policy. In addition to the 
two states that legalized the adult use of marijuana, three more 
legalized it for medical uses. A total of 18 states now allow medical 
marijuana, and 12 have decriminalized possession of the drug. 
Meanwhile, Canadian policy is moving in the opposite direction.

Yet polls consistently show that Canadians and Americans have grown 
tired of marijuana prohibition. According to a recent Angus Reid 
survey of 800 British Columbians, only 28% support instituting strict 
mandatory-minimum prison sentences for marijuana-related crimes, 
including the possession of six or more plants. Instead, 
three-quarters of respondents believe Canada would be better off 
taxing and regulating the substance.

That poll was commissioned by Stop the Violence B.C., a coalition of 
academic, legal, law enforcement and health experts concerned about 
the links between marijuana prohibition and the growth of organized 
crime and related violence in the province. The coalition's call for 
the strict regulation and taxation of marijuana has received 
endorsements from law enforcement, the Health Officers Council of 
B.C., the Public Health Association of B.C., four former B.C. 
attorneys-general and eight current B.C. mayors.

And the momentum for change continues to build. In September, the 
Union of B.C. Municipalities, representing cities and towns across 
the province, passed a resolution calling for research into the 
legalization of marijuana.

These groups have all examined the evidence and come to the same 
conclusion: The war on drugs has proven to be completely ineffective 
at reducing production and keeping marijuana out of the hands of young people.

Tough-on-crime policies that focus on marijuana production ignore 
basic economics. Successful enforcement reduces supply but increases 
prices. Higher prices create incentives for organized criminals to 
increase supply, thus continuing the vicious cycle. Further 
entrenching the marijuana trade in the black market will only lead to 
increased gang activity and violence in our communities.

A recent study published in the International Journal on Drug Policy 
shows exactly what's at stake. According to a coalition of 
researchers from the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser 
University, B.C.'s domestic marijuana market could be worth more than 
$500-million annually. With relatively low production costs, most of 
that revenue goes directly into the pockets of increasingly 
sophisticated criminal organizations - the proceeds of which are 
known to fuel the importation of cocaine and firearms into Canada. 
Tough law-enforcement efforts have failed to limit the supply and 
consumption of marijuana, while lining the pockets of gang members.

States like Washington and Colorado have elected to take the 
production and distribution of marijuana out of the hands of 
criminals. By taxing and regulating the adult use of marijuana, 
they've opted to seize control of a market that likely represents 
hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue. Taken from outlaw 
biker gangs and other criminal groups, revenue will instead be put 
into health care, drugabuse treatment and other chronically 
under-funded programs. We should do the same here.

In the U.S., where the war on drugs has been fought most vigorously, 
the incarceration of drug offenders has helped create the world's 
highest incarceration rate. The U.S. has less than 5% of the world's 
population, but almost a quarter of the world's prisoners. Americans 
are increasingly recognizing that the enforcement of marijuana 
prohibition has been a waste of taxpayer dollars. They've witnessed 
how mandatory-minimum sentences have been costly and ineffective, and 
how their legal system has been clogged from prosecuting non-violent 
offenders, while gangs continue to benefit.

In the 1920s, Canada led the way and repealed alcohol prohibition 
many years before the U.S. did. The parallels to today's marijuana 
prohibition are striking, and if it made sense then, it certainly 
makes sense now. This time around, the U.S. leads the way towards 
legalizing, controlling and taxing marijuana use. It's time for 
Canadians to follow their lead.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom