Canadian on Cannibis legislation

[cedarteeth]

Mr. Paul M. from Abbotsford, BC, Canada, has composed this letter about marijuana decriminalization, which he invited us to print. Without further comments - here it is. In full.

Young adults make their own choices, and we all want to help them make the right ones. But what if, despite your best child rearing efforts, you learn that your eighteen-year-old daughter has been arrested for marijuana possession? What if she has been using it frequently, or discreetly selling it to consenting friends and acquaintances for pocket money and social status? No harm was intended, and the activity was welcomed by her peers. What would you consider most helpful: counseling, a fine, prison, a criminal record, or no punishment at all?

Under present laws, a criminal record would be likely. But that would not help her achieve a drug-free lifestyle. She would be better served by the sort of counseling commonly used to help alcoholics. In her case, and in general, a criminal record will cause more harm than good. That is one good reason why Canada should decriminalize marijuana.

Unfortunately, President Bush's administration wants to prevent this, arguing that decriminalization in Canada will increase the flow of Canadian marijuana into the USA. But this seems unlikely: Our present marijuana laws are already largely ignored, so why would relaxing them result in any change in the amount of marijuana available? There is no basis for Bush's claim, and he himself must know that. What must really concern him is that if our experiment with decriminalization succeeds, it will underscore the embarrassing failure of his own drug policy, and will increase pressure for decriminalization in the USA.

Bush's marijuana policy is fatally flawed, because even if he could completely eradicate the supply of pot, Americans would use other substances to get high. Take Japan, for example: There, marijuana has been scarce, and young people have instead resorted to sniffing solvents and using amphetamines. Evidently, eliminating the supply of marijuana can actually encourage more dangerous practices!

This is because supply is merely the servant of demand. Consumer demand is what really drives the marijuana trade. As long as people want to get high, the potential profits will encourage marijuana cultivation. Accordingly, Bush should recognize that Canadian marijuana cultivation is fuelled principally by the enormous American demand for the drug. If the demand were eliminated, the supply would dry up.

Making Canada a scapegoat will not solve anything, so Bush should stop blaming us, and stop meddling in our domestic politics. We have cooperated loyally with his hopeless drug war far too long. Every year, Canada spends half a billion tax dollars to enforce marijuana laws, yet pot is as easy to obtain as ever. We simply can no longer afford the high financial and human cost, senselessly criminalizing so many of our young people, with no positive result.

A criminal record only makes it more difficult for a marijuana user to reform, by seriously limiting employment and career opportunities. No one should have their life ruined with such a severe social stigma simply because they have committed a minor drug offense, especially when so many others committing the same offense are never caught, and may go on to hold high positions in business, education, and government. The unlucky ones who do get criminalized may be effectively prevented from fully contributing their talents to society for the remainder of their lives, which is a loss for us all.

If George Bush himself had not been so well-protected by family money and political connections, and instead had been justly punished with the criminal record that he apparently deserved for the alleged reckless behavior and cocaine use of his youth, then he would never have become President of the USA! How then can Bush, in good conscience, demand the continued criminalization of Canadian young people - for behavior less offensive than what he himself got away with? His stance is brazenly hypocritical!

We Canadians know that our expensive, divisive, civil war against drugs can never be won. Our wishful thinking that prohibition could eliminate marijuana use has only fooled us into grossly underestimating the vast resources actually needed. Thus, enforcement has been ineffectual - sufficient only to bolster the price of marijuana, without significantly controlling supply, and doing little to curb demand. Ironically, by supporting marijuana prices, we are allowing criminal gangs to reap huge profits, and evolve into powerful drug cartels, bringing weapons, violence and lawlessness to our communities.

We must stop this hopeless war that is draining our prosperity and tearing at our social fabric. We must stop oppressing our own youth with unjustly harsh laws, and advocating a spirit of mistrust that pits one suspicious neighbor against another. Let's reform our marijuana laws now, and deal with this issue sensibly and realistically, for the benefit of everyone! Let's ask Canada's politicians not for self-righteous posturing on the safest moral high ground, but instead for imagination, courage, and leadership, as we struggle to turn this new page of hope.

Please note: I am a non-smoking, non-drinking, law-abiding Canadian citizen. My two school-aged children are drug-free, and I do not advocate recreational marijuana use.