Pubdate: Thu, 07 Jan 2016
Source: Intelligencer, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016, The Belleville Intelligencer
Contact: http://www.intelligencer.ca/letters
Website: http://www.intelligencer.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2332
Author: Tim Miller
Page: 6

MARIJUANA USE SHOULD NOT COME WITH CRIMINAL RECORD

It comes in many forms and is known by many names.

Weed, pot, dope, Mary Jane and grass are just the tip of the leafy
iceberg.

Regardless of whether you consider it reefer madness or a friendly
stranger, there is one fact that holds true: marijuana has destroyed
lives.

Just not in the way you may think it has.

Under current legislation if a law enforcement officer finds someone
in possession of even a small amount of marijuana they only have one
of two options: either let them off with a warning or lay formal
charges which, if leading to conviction, leaves that individual with a
criminal record that will haunt them for at least the next decade -
and in most cases much longer than that.

Imagine picking up a bottle of wine or six-pack of beer on your way
home after a long workweek. On the way home you are stopped by a RIDE
program and the unopened alcohol is spotted. Now imagine being
arrested, charged and possibly even serving jail time. Imagine being
turned down for good-paying jobs because they are only hiring people
with a clean criminal record. Imagine further, years later, not being
able to go on family vacation because your record limits your travel
or you're unable to go on your child's field trip because a criminal
record check is required.

To be clear, we're not talking about a dealer with bags of weed, we're
talking about small amounts for individual personal use who just
happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In situations like this, the punishment is far exceeding the
crime.

And these are not one-off anecdotal occurrences.

The Conservative-led federal government took a hard-line stance on
drug possession and, as a result, statistics show marijuana incidents
and charges increased by roughly 30 per cent between 2006 and 2014.

According to 2014 figures, police deal with a marijuana possession
incident every nine minutes in Canada.

With the voting in of a new Liberal majority government, a reform of
Canadian's marijuana laws is in the air. It's a change a great many
Canadians support.

An Ipos poll in August found 65 per cent of Canadians support the
decriminalization of marijuana so possession of small amounts would no
longer carry a penalty or fine. A CBC poll conducted a month later
showed even stronger results with 86 per cent supporting either
legalization or decriminalization.

The arguments against softening marijuana possession laws generally
stem from concerns of health and/or social fallout. However, those
pushing against the green tide would also need to call for an
outlawing of alcohol, tobacco and sunlight in order to be consistent
in their convictions.

After all, seven per cent of all deaths and substantial disability in
Canada are alcohol-related. Fifteen to 20 per cent of Canadians meet
the criteria for some form of alcohol disorder.

Smoking is linked to 16.6 per cent of all deaths in Canada - by
cancer, cardiovascular disease or respiratory disease.

Skin cancer - which is caused primarily by UV radiation through
exposure to a source such as the sun - is the most common cancer in
Canada with an estimated 6,500 new cases of malignant melanoma in 2014
with approximately 76,100 more cases of non-melanoma skin cancers.

We, as a society, have already decided adults are allowed to exercise
individual discretion when it comes to a wide range of personal
recreational activities, including drinking, smoking and even
excessive tanning - even when there is a potential bi-product of
self-hazard. By all accounts marijuana does not appear to be outside
those already established social guidelines.

Whether you agree with recreational marijuana use or not, I think we
can all agree it's not worth ruining someone's life over.
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MAP posted-by: Matt