Pubdate: Tue, 12 Aug 2014
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2014 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Margaret Wente
Page: A11

POT STILL FAILS THE SNIFF TEST

After 4 1/2 years in a U.S. jail, marijuana crusader Marc Emery is 
returning to a hero's welcome in Canada on Tuesday. Festivities are 
planned from Toronto to Vancouver, along with lots of bong.

In a jailhouse interview with Maclean's magazine, the fearless 
freedom fighter vowed to wreak "political revenge" by working to 
elect Justin Trudeau's Liberals and crush the repressive Conservative 
prohibitionists. His wife, Jodie, said she wants to run for the 
Liberals in B.C. "With marijuana being such a big issue, I think I 
could be a really good spokesperson to defend Justin Trudeau from all 
the attacks," she told the magazine.

God help Mr. Trudeau. With friends like these, he doesn't need 
enemies. Despite the public adulation, Mr. Emery is among the most 
obnoxious jerks in Canadian public life. (And I say this as someone 
who thinks it's past time to relax the laws on weed.) He's a 
relentless self-promoter who's compared himself to Gandhi and Martin 
Luther King. He insists that the persecution of people who smoke pot 
is the moral equivalent of the persecution of the Jews. In his most 
despicable moment, he called Irwin Cotler, the former federal justice 
minister, a "Nazi-Jew" for allowing the United States to extradite 
him. Mr. Cotler is a Liberal who campaigns passionately against anti-Semitism.

Mr. Trudeau would no doubt be happier if Mr. Emery were still in 
jail. But either way, the Liberal Leader's bold pledge to legalize 
marijuana doesn't look like a winner. Liberals have been making fun 
of Conservative radio ads featuring an anxious mom who's afraid that 
Justin will turn her kids into potheads. But the moms have a point. 
If weed is easier to get, more kids will get it. That's Economics 
101. Even experts who advocate legalization will tell you that.

In fact, although most Canadians want the laws relaxed, they remain 
wary about legalization. In a poll conducted earlier this year for 
the federal government, just over a third of respondents - 37.3 per 
cent - said they favour legalization. In focus groups, according to 
the pollster, there was "very little support" for legalization outside B.C.

Another third of poll respondents - 33.4 per cent - thought the 
possession of small amounts of marijuana should be decriminalized and 
treated with a fine, like a speeding ticket, rather than as an 
offence that merits a criminal record. This is the approach advocated 
by the nation's police chiefs, and I wouldn't be surprised to see 
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government adopt it.

Respondents also voted thumbs-down on commercialization. When asked 
whether "companies in Canada should be allowed to produce and promote 
the sale of marijuana just like tobacco and alcohol," 42.4 per cent 
said yes, and 55.6 per cent said no. In other words, Mr. Harper's 
worried moms accurately reflect the Canadian mainstream.

As with abortion and prostitution, pot is one of those values issues 
where elite and general opinion diverge. Highly educated liberal 
professionals tend to be highly permissive, and the vast unwashed 
less so. This is why, even though The New York Times has 
enthusiastically endorsed legalizing marijuana at the federal level, 
it won't happen any time soon. That's because Americans are backward, 
and even President Barack Obama's government has to appease the 
conservatives. Or maybe it's because Americans are tolerant, but 
think their kids have enough drug problems as it is.

Whatever the case, Mr. Emery isn't yet on the right side of history. 
He's no hero, either. If the media give him a free pass, shame on them.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom