Pubdate: Wed, 16 Sep 2015 Source: Vancouver 24hours (CN BC) Copyright: 2015 Vancouver 24 hrs. Contact: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/letters Website: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3837 Author: Steve Burgess Page: 4 Deal with the issue on a national level so cannabis products can become a properly regulated industry Time to bridge Canada's pot divide I once got busted for pot when I wasn't even there. I had left a used hash pipe at a friend's place. His apartment got raided and he promptly ratted me out. Which was perfectly understandable - he had a record and might actually have gone to jail if he had claimed it. As a juvenile (so very, very long ago), I faced no such penalty. In fact, the judge assigned to my case - a man named Rodney Mykle, now on the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench - sentenced me to write a 10-page essay on the pros and cons of marijuana. "Just report whatever you find out," he said. I turned in a report that recommended legalization. I learned a lot (including the fact that there are some wise judges in this country). I've long since stopped smoking pot - it ceased to be a pleasant experience - and today I harbour no romantic notions about cannabis and its effects. While it will never approach alcohol in its destructive effects on society, neither do I think of it as harmless. (The annual 4/20 rally at the art gallery is supposed to be a celebration of pot use, but for anybody who isn't stoned, walking around that scene can be a profoundly depressing experience). Still, the criminalization of marijuana has caused infinitely more problems than its use. But where are we now? The current state of affairs serves no one. Vancouver has attempted to license and regulate pot dispensaries, but last week Health Canada warned it plans a crackdown. With the proliferation of medical marijuana outlets in Vancouver, you'd think the stuff cured cancer, the common cold, and halitosis. Who is running these stores? As long as pot remains illegal, those who sell it are still more likely to be connected with criminal networks. I believe Canada needs to move toward full legalization. But a creeping legalization that pits levels of government and law enforcement against each other can never work. Only when we deal with the issue on a national level can cannabis products become a properly regulated industry. The issue should be a priority. Steve Burgess is a Vancouver-based writer and author of the novel Who Killed Mom? - --- MAP posted-by: Matt