Pubdate: Thu, 01 Aug 2013
Source: Northumberland News (CN ON)
Copyright: 2013 by Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing, Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.northumberlandnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2373

MP REITERATES OPPOSITION TO MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION

Northumberland -Liberal leader Justin Trudeau's support for legalizing
marijuana is "naive and oversimplistic" because it would add to
society's ills, not reduce them, says Northumberland-Quinte West MP
Rick Norlock.

Canada already has trouble dealing with myriad social and health
problems caused by two legal substances, alcohol and tobacco, so why
would we want "to create another one?" he asked.

Trudeau re-ignited the national debate over marijuana while touring
British Columbia last week, saying taxing and regulating pot is "one
of the only ways to keep it out of the hands of kids, because the
current war on drugs ... is not working."

Norlock scoffed at the Quebec MP's reasoning, arguing selling
marijuana through a system similar to that of a liquor control board
would not prevent youth from acquiring the drug, the same way they can
now with alcohol despite being underage.

But Al Graham, a Campbellford resident and medical marijuana user who
has long advocated making the substance legal, said teenagers will
"tell you it's easier to get marijuana than it is for them to get
alcohol and tobacco" because their sale is regulated.

A further advantage of legalization is that it will create jobs for
people who produce, process and sell marijuana, and generate tax
revenue for the government, Graham said. "Also, money is saved on law
enforcement on top of all this."

Norlock agreed with Trudeau "the war on drugs has been less than
successful" but argued making marijuana more widely available isn't
the answer.

"We have a huge problem with impaired driving," he said, and that will
only increase if marijuana use were to become more popular once legalized.

"The police can charge you with driving with a drug in your system but
it's just very difficult in court to prove," said Norlock, an OPP
officer for more than three decades before he retired 12 years ago.

The MP said he "would be prepared to really seriously consider
decriminalization or legalization if there were truly scientific
studies" independently done and peer-reviewed in support of such a
step but he is "unaware of any."

Trudeau, in reiterating his party's position set out last year, said,
according to the Globe and Mail, that "very serious studies that have
come out [made him] realize that going the road of legalization is
actually a responsible thing to look at and to do."

But marijuana use hasn't been studied as in-depth as alcohol and
tobacco, Norlock said, and to legalize "another substance that we
don't know enough about" makes no sense.

Society is already "heading in the right direction" in trying to
minimize the ill effects of alcohol and tobacco consumption, so "why
do we want to open another can of medical problem worms?" he asked.

"Maybe we need to do things differently," by consulting experts and
referencing studies to see "if there is a better way to dissuade
people from using drugs," Norlock said.

Graham, who founded People Advocating Cannabis Education (PACE), has
been using marijuana legally for seven years to help him deal with
Crohn's disease. There are "probably pros and cons on both sides" of
the issue of legalizing marijuana, so people will "have to do the
research for themselves" to arrive at an informed opinion, he said.

Norlock offered the same view, saying he doesn't want Canadians to
"give a knee-jerk reaction to this, I want them to really think about
it, I certainly have as a police officer and now as a legislator.

"We need to, as a society, take a big, deep breath and really think
hard before we contemplate doing things like this," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt