Pubdate: Sun, 06 Dec 2015
Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.ottawasun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.ottawasun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329
Author: Bruce Cheadle
Page: 3

LEGAL POT 40 YEARS IN THE MAKING

It has taken more than 40 years but the government of Canada is
finally formally committing to legalizing marijuana.

Gov. Gen. David Johnston delivered the governing priorities of Justin
Trudeau's Liberals in the speech from the throne Friday, including a
pledge to "legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana."

The Liberals promised to legalize pot more than a year ago, prompting
a months-long barrage of Conservative attack ads in multiple languages
that asserted the move would make marijuana readily available to
children through sales at corner stores.

The scare tactics failed to avert a Liberal majority government when
Canadians went to the polls on Oct. 19.

Yet amid a flood of priorities from the highly activist Liberals, no
one seemed absolutely certain marijuana legalization would make the
cut.

But there it was Friday, in a section of the throne speech headlined
"Security and Opportunity" -- some 43 years after a federal inquiry
headed by Gerald Le Dain recommended in 1972 that Canada stop
prosecuting people for simple possession and cultivation of cannabis.

"The actual perception of harm of cannabis is now so different from
that which the law would suggest, that any change in the law could
only be recognized as a belated recognition of the facts," the
commission reported -- four decades ago.

Donald MacPherson, the director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
at Simon Fraser University's Centre for Applied Research in Mental
Health and Addictions, called Friday's throne speech "a groundbreaking
day."

Decriminalization or legalization is being discussed "in virtually
every country where cannabis is being used," MacPherson said in an
interview from Kelowna, B.C., adding Canada's policy move has been
called for by public health practitioners and is long overdue.
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MAP posted-by: Matt