I'M STONE COLD AGAINST POT LEGALIZATION

THE Harper government just unveiled a plan that it hopes will make
drivers think twice before toking up and getting behind the wheel.
Bill C-2 would give police the power to charge people suspected of
driving while under the influence of drugs, including marijuana.

I am all for it, but not just because of the obvious safety
issue.

I am against the legalization of marijuana.

There, I said it.

It's something I can't say in front of most people, especially people
my age (early 20s), because when I do, I'm met with blank stares,
insults or accusations of being a wet blanket. People have told me,
"What do you know? You don't even smoke weed."

Fair enough; I have never touched an illegal drug in my life and I'm
not alone -- only about 10 million out of 33 million Canadians have
tried cannabis at least once in their lifetime, according to
Statistics Canada.

But I don't think abstaining from frying my brain makes me uninformed
- -- and despite the increasingly blase attitudes surrounding marijuana,
I, along with 43 per cent of Canadians polled by Angus Reid, firmly
believe that drug use is one of the biggest problems in our society.

Yes, I'm aware that there are more serious crimes than smoking ganja.
That's not the issue here.

I understand that drug cases tie up the courts. According to a 2002
Statistics Canada study, drug offences represent nine per cent of all
adult criminal court cases. So sure, you could make the argument that
legalizing marijuana would allow for faster trials and perhaps even a
better court system overall. But I don't buy it.

Legalization might rid the courts of possession cases, but it would
open up a whole new can of worms. If pot were legal, it would be
easier to find. If people knew they wouldn't get thrown in the
slammer, they would toke up more often. And if more people smoked, the
chances of people getting behind the wheels of their cars while under
the influence would increase. After all, alcohol is legal -- and there
is certainly no shortage of alcohol-related impaired driving.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Not only that, but if the government decided to go through with
legalization, people would start lobbying for the legalization of
other, more dangerous drugs. Another possibility? The blase attitudes
concerning marijuana use would transfer over to other, more serious
crimes. In March of last year, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty even
stated that many serious crimes link back to the drug trade.

We all know the vicious cycle: Give people an inch and they'll take a
mile.

The same goes for decriminalization, considered a compromise between
prohibition and legalization. Excuse me while I laugh. The idea of
making drug sales illegal while still allowing people to smoke on a
recreational basis is beyond absurd.

Yes, let's send the message that hey, smoking weed isn't so bad; it's
dealing that will get you into trouble. Because that's the message we
want to be sending to our children -- you know, the people who will
run our country someday?

The only reason some politicians are gunning for decriminalization is
that they're scared. They want to reduce so-called drug-related harm
but don't want a touchy topic like legalization to come back and bite
them during the next election.

Prime example? Four years ago, the Paul Martin government reintroduced
a bill that would give any person caught with 15 grams of pot or less
a simple fine rather than criminal charges. Wow, now there's a deterrent.

On the other hand, while I'm not a big Stephen Harper fan, I have to
give him props for the new anti-drug strategy he unveiled last year.
Though it doesn't deal specifically with simple possession, it's at
least a step in the right direction.

One component of the proposed bill is a two-year mandatory jail
sentence for dealers selling to youth; another, an increase in the
maximum penalty for producing cannabis, doubling it from seven to 14
years.

Despite all that, I know I'll still be met with blank stares, insults
or accusations of being a wet blanket whenever I say I'm against
legalization. And I'm OK with that.