WILL OUR PARLIAMENTARIANS CONSIDER INHALING

In the span of just a few weeks, the issue of decriminalizing marijuana
went from an topic barely on the radar of political discussion to something
of a national issue. What made this turnabout all the more remarkable were
the people leading, or at least contributing to, the debate.

Joe Clark, leader of the PC party and a former prime minister, has widened
the discussion the most, arguing passionately against charging people who
have small quantities of marijuana. There's no need, Clark argued, for
entire lives to be ruined because of an action that doesn't carry serious
consequences.

Meanwhile, the august Canadian Medical Association Journal recently carried
an editorial making much the same argument — that the country's laws are
"unduly restrictive." A few weeks before that, Health Minister Allan Rock
endorsed broader access to marijuana for medical use.

Most importantly, Justice Minister Anne McLellan recently called for
studying the issue of non-medical drugs and has opened the door to possible
legislative action on the issue.

A sure indicator that the political tide is turning is Elsie Wayne, the
Saint John Tory MP whose bedrock opposition to drug use has been a standard
plank in her personal platform for years. Wayne does not echo all of
Clark's concerns, but she now says a criminal conviction for a first arrest
on dope ownership is too harsh.

Something has changed: the opinion leaders now speaking out on
decriminalizing marijuana are as mainstream as they get in Canada. Why the
switch? It may well have something to do with changing views and mores in
the country itself.

A study conducted by University of Lethbridge researchers found that
Canadians' views on decriminalizing marijuana have changed dramatically in
recent years. Until the mid-1990s, only about 30 per cent of Canadians
agreed with decriminalization. That figure is now about 47 per cent, says
researcher Reg Bibby.

Marijuana is not a drug without effects, although even those who are not
pro-dope advocates concede that its effects are not much different than
alcohol. The difference is that the sale of alcohol is controlled and
largely condoned. Marijuana is grown, processed, distributed and sold
through an illegal network.

Not everyone is on side, of course. The Canadian Police Association is
alarmed that the pendulum on the issue appears to be swinging quickly
toward decriminalization. They consider dope a "gateway" drug that leads to
harsher, more destructive substances.

The issue of decriminalization has not been debated much since the Trudeau
era. Surely a thorough review is long overdue. For instance, many legal
reform advocates claim our courts have been filled with thousands of cases
that should never have been there in the first place, and that millions of
dollars have been wasted on prosecuting them.

And what of medicinal marijuana? How would that affect legality?

Anne McLennan has shown some guts in tackling an issue that many
politicians would like to avoid. But there historically have been good
reasons to ban marijuana. To prevent a Pandora's box from being opened,
McLennan must continue to show leadership, to untangle a complicated knot
that involves politics, medicine, the law and deeply held social convictions.