Pubdate: Mon, 31 Aug 2015
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.montrealgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Author: Michael Ashby
Note: Michael Ashby is the Montreal-based co-founder and 
communications director of the National Pardon Centre.
Page: A13

MARIJUANA ISN'T THE ONLY DRUG THAT CANADIANS SHOULD LEGALIZE

Drug use is a health issue, not a matter for the police and courts, 
Michael Ashby says.

When will Canadians find the courage to legalize cocaine? What about 
all the other drugs, for that matter? Since marijuana has become an 
election issue, we should stop wasting time and just talk about all 
drugs at once.

Anyone who's given sober thought to the social consequences of drug 
prohibition knows that drug use should be treated as a health issue 
rather than a criminal one. But for over 100 years we've gone in the 
wrong direction, wasting mind numbing amounts of time and resources 
policing normal (if not ideal) human behaviour.

But now, for the first time in Canadian history, a serious contender 
for the highest office in the land has finally got it right, at least 
on the marijuana question. Justin Trudeau wants to legalize, regulate 
and tax marijuana. Considering the widespread availability of this 
drug - and considering the industry in Canada alone amounts to 
billions of dollars annually - this is the only sensible position.

Stephen Harper wants to double down on prohibition, a course of 
action that is hopelessly out of touch.

Thomas Mulcair wants to decriminalize and then "study" marijuana, yet 
another waste of time and a case of sitting on the political fence.

But not a single one has the courage to talk about cocaine, LSD, MDMA 
or any of the other stuff that most of us just pretend doesn't exist.

Why not? It's all in demand. It all circulates easily enough. It's 
all dangerous, although to much different degrees. And it all puts 
our children on the front lines more often than those of us who 
actually bother casting a ballot.

Let me be clear on this point. The prohibition of drugs puts our 
children at risk. We give them insincere advice. We provide 
incomplete, dishonest information. And we threaten them with criminal 
records and other things they don't care about in the hope they might 
avoid the same mistakes that every single generation before them made first.

Despite all of this, we still think the best solution is to have 
drugs manufactured and distributed by gangs operating outside of the 
law. We throw people in jail for growing plants. We slap criminal 
records on ordinary folk with jobs, families and responsibilities. 
And we have no sympathy for anyone who just needs to forget about 
their problems for awhile, let alone the ones struggling with a 
serious health crisis like addiction.

This all needs to change but, unfortunately, the best we're going to 
get is a slim chance at changing the legal status of the softest drug 
imaginable because the big three parties are all pretty transparent 
on this front.

So the odds are about even on the marijuana question. There's a 
one-in-three chance we get it right, maintain the status quo, or just 
tiptoe quietly in the right direction hoping we don't offend our big 
neighbour to the south.

Moving drugs from the criminal justice system to health services will 
take a radical overhaul in public thinking.

But it should be worth the effort. Just imagine what can be done if 
we decide to help people with drug problems rather than throw them in 
jail. Imagine if we didn't ruin some kid's life for smoking a joint 
in the park with some friends.

We're going to need stronger leadership if we ever want to bring the 
drugs into line with 21st-century thinking. Unfortunately, it's not 
going to surface this time around.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom