Pubdate: Wed, 07 Aug 2013
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2013 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Rosie DiManno

LEGALIZING POT, ENDORSING STUPIDITY

In drug-dabbling days of yore, there was one narcotic that I knew 
from the get-go could be my undoing: heroin.

With the possible exception of sex, there's no euphoric feeling on 
Earth so sweet as a smack rush. And while I don't accept that dipping 
into any drug for an experimental adventure - not crack, not 
methamphetamines, not LSD - will automatically predispose an 
individual toward addiction and a life of ruin, which is what the 
drug interdiction racket would have you believe, there's no denying 
the siren song of heroin nirvana as a seductive compulsion.

Three times and out, I decided. Also, needles are creepy, even when 
injecting subcutaneously rather than into a vein.

So, no, I don't necessarily view illicit drugs as an absolute and 
unequivocal scourge, though well aware of the harm caused to chronic 
partakers and society at large, especially where demand transects 
with supply - the criminality of trafficking, the inefficacy of 
gazillions spent on law enforcement.

But of all the substances available from your corner dealer, or your 
office connection, the most dim-witting, the dummy-down rope-adope 
champion, is cannabis.

Not a single habitual user I've ever known has been enhanced, 
augmented even slightly in personality or as good company, by weed. 
You may think you're being clever and witty, but you're merely 
imbecilic. Mellow, no doubt, perhaps destressed - or, if consumed for 
medicinal purposes, cushioned against pain and depression, thus 
perfectly acceptable and already legal for some 14,000 registered 
users in Canada.

Otherwise, it is the stupid of highs.

I trust Justin Trudeau will give dope a wide berth because he's 
already the political embodiment of stupid, a callow fellow who's 
parlayed genetic pedigree - and not much else - into public office, 
the putative saviour of the federal Liberal party. Cute but silly, 
Liberal-lite on policy and vision rather than the transformative 
figure plumped by Grits yearning for a return to preeminence.

Four years ago, as a rookie MP, Trudeau voted in favour of Bill C-15, 
which was the first attempt by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's 
Conservatives to establish mandatory minimum sentences for pot 
possession. After twice punted on the parliamentary order paper, the 
Tories finally passed the law in 2012 as part of an omnibus crime bill.

Last November, speaking to students in Charlottetown, Trudeau 
indicated his wavering thought process, at that point promoting 
decriminalization but not legalization.

As of two weeks ago, the flip-flop is complete. Unprompted, Trudeau 
told a Liberal rally in Kelowna he now supports legalizing pot 
possession, regulating it and taxing it.

All couched in disapproval, of course. Decriminalization, he said, is 
"a great first step to remove criminal penalties now associated with 
pot possession," but "only legalization would keep it out of the 
hands of children."

Trudeau added: "In many cases, it's more difficult for young people 
to get their hands on cigarettes than it is to get their hands on weed."

I'm having difficulty following the logic here. Health Canada has 
moved heaven and earth to make smoking a tacitly illegal activity, 
while the government continues to rake in huge profits from grossly 
overtaxing the product. If nicotine is so destructive of health, 
surely marijuana is no better. The zealous crusade against smoking 
can hardly be countenanced while simultaneously promoting easier 
access to cannabis. Any government that would assume this posture is 
blowing out of both sides of its mouth.

Ah, but there would be rigid restrictions, Trudeau contends. "Once we 
regulate it and require ID to be shown before anybody can buy it, for 
proof of age, we actually are putting a better control on it. Nobody 
can argue the current approach on drugs is working. We have to look 
at something else."

What the cigarette tax laws have done is create a ruthless black 
market for tobacco products, exploited by everyone from First Nations 
people on reserves to, as I recall, notorious schoolgirl sex killer 
Paul Bernardo, who was in the business of cigarette smuggling before 
he turned his attention to abducting and murdering teenagers. Youth 
looking to get their hands on dope would be no more dissuaded by 
qualifying government regulations than they are now.

Trudeau claims his thinking about dope has "evolved" - but maybe he 
should fire up a reefer and ponder it some more. Thus far he's not 
offered a single cogent thought about how legalization would work. If 
it becomes legal to buy, then what about massive grow-ops? Might they 
become the pot version of Holland Marsh, where consumers can buy weed 
in bulk as easily as they now buy vegetables? What about driving 
whilst high? Could police request a motorist suspected of drug 
impairment to blow into a marijuana version of the breathalyzer? How 
do you quantify levels of dope impairment?

What I see in that liberalized future is a humongous regulation 
bureaucracy, an entire new government beadledom devoted to navigating 
the distribution and law enforcement consequences. It would make the 
gun registration shamble look like a fart in a mitten. Two billion 
bucks would hardly cover it.

Last year, when delegates to the Liberal convention voted in favour 
of legalizing dope, Trudeau was opposed. "It's not your mother's 
pot," he said, sounding very much like a Tory nag.

He's crooning a different tune these days, obviously looking to buck 
up Liberal support among young people, and mindful of polls that show 
Canadians are increasingly cool with legalizing pot. The NDP, who 
have long advocated decriminalization, nailed the change of heart for 
what it is: political pandering.

Now, if Trudeau really wanted to be bold - triggering an enlightened 
conversation - he should float the idea of decriminalizing, not 
legalizing, all illegal drugs, from cannabis to heroin. Addiction 
would be best addressed as a health issue and not a matter for law 
enforcement. Too much money has been spent in a vain attempt to 
dismantle criminal drug empires while targeting the (relatively) 
nickel 'n' dime end of the operation. On the street, lives are lost 
every week in turf battles among those who view trafficking as 
entrepreneurship with guns.

Trudeau advocates making government the pusher. Can you imagine the 
magnitude of that muddle?

Bogart that joint strategy, Justin. Canada already has way too much stupid.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom