THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER

BRANTFORD According to one estimate, about 1.5 million Canadians -- five
per cent of the country's population -- use marijuana. They do it knowing
full well that it's against the law and could lead to arrest, trial and a
criminal record.

Indeed, during the last 30 years that Is exactly what has happened to more
than 500,000 Canadians who carry criminal records for simple possession of
marijuana. In 1995 alone, almost 32,000 Canadians were convicted of the crime.

That may change. During the past few weeks there has been considerable
discussion about marijuana and THE law, and a whole lot more discussion is
on the way.

Quietly, last week, all five parties in the House of Commons supported a
resolution to set up a committee that will investigate the idea of
decriminalizing marijuana use.

(Decriminalization means it would still be illegal to use marijuana, but
would be punished with a ticket and a fine, much like a traffic offence.)

The Commons committee is expected to be appointed this week and to begin
work in the fall.

When it does, there will be no shortage of opinions, on both sides of the
issue.

Indeed, the debate is making for some strange bedfellows. In addition to
pot users and the owners of head shops across the nation who have an
obvious stake in a change, decriminalization has also been endorsed by the
Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police
and the RCMP.

An editorial in the CMA Journal argues that the legal fallout of being
arrested for marijuana possession far outweigh the minimal health effects
of moderate use of the drugs.

The police chiefs and RCMP say they could put more resources into
investigating more serious crimes if they were spending so much effort on
prosecuting marijuana cases.

So far, Health Minister Alan Rock and Justice Minister Anne McLellan have
said they think a debate is needed. Tory Leader Joe Clark went so far as to
endorse decriminalization last week, while the NDP and Bloc Quebecois have
already endorsed the idea.

Of course, not everyone is lining up on that side of the debate. On Monday,
the Canadian Police Association, which represents rank-and-file police
officers, came out four-square against any change in the law. The
organization contends that marijuana is a "starter drug" for other
addictions and that the end result of looser laws for marijuana would be
more criminal activity, not less.

And what of the Canadian public? One survey done by a sociologist at the
University of Lethbridge showed that 47 per cent of Canadians favour
decriminalization, a marked increase from the 30 per cent who held that
position just a few years ago. In B.C., where a pro-marijuana party
contested the recent election, support for decriminalization is as high as
56 per cent.

Considering society's general disapproval of drug use, the level of support
for decriminalization is rather startling. Little or no good comes from
recreational use of any drug , yet there is broad support for a change in
the law that would make doing it that much less risky.

Could it be that many Canadians, from doctors to lawyers to police chiefs
to average citizens, have recognized that the costs of enforcing this law
do indeed outweigh the benefits?