Pubdate: Tue, 26 Feb 2013
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476

POT-LAW ENFORCEMENT WASTE OF TIME, MONEY

A Simon Fraser University study has confirmed what's fast becoming 
obvious to taxpayers across North America: The war on pot is a losing 
proposition. Or at least it's prohibitively expensive and ethically 
questionable.

The study, by SFU criminology Prof. Neil Boyd, shows B.C. taxpayers 
shell out around $10.5 million a year for criminal convictions for 
simple pot possession - or a whopping $8,750 per conviction.

Yes, despite claims that B.C. cops turn a blind eye to pot smoking, 
charges for marijuana possession have more than doubled in six years.

That level of enforcement, in our view, is largely a waste of time 
and money, especially as it appears so inconsistent, spotty and just 
plain unfair.

As reporter Gord McIntyre noted in Sunday's paper, charges for pot 
possession fell in the City of Vancouver to about 30 per 100,000 
residents between 2005 and 2010.

In just about everywhere else in the province, however, the rate of 
charges increased.

In Nelson, for example, possession charges rose to 300 per 100,000 
people ... and, in Tofino, to a mind-blowing 588. In addition to 
hefty justice-system costs, the mounting toll of criminal convictions 
exacts a heavy human toll - by imposing serious employment and travel 
restrictions on those whom most of us wouldn't normally consider criminals.

Sensible B.C., which is campaigning for a referendum on pot 
decriminalization, wants marijuana to be treated like alcohol and 
tobacco under a Sensible Policing Act.

We agree that this is a sensible proposition, especially given the 
recent passage of pot-decriminalization initiatives in Colorado and 
Washington state.

A more modern Canadian marijuana law would mean less of a hassle for 
the occasional pot user and less of a burden for the average B.C. taxpayer.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom