Pubdate: Sat, 10 Aug 2013
Source: Guelph Mercury (CN ON)
Copyright: 2013 Metroland Media Group Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.guelphmercury.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1418
Author: Rosie Dimanno
Page: A7

PONDERING POT

Legalization a bad idea for Canada

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 dimwitting, the dummydown rope-a-dope
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 de-stressed - 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.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt