'LEGALIZE IT, CONTROL IT AND TAX THE LIVIN' HELL OUT OF IT'

Larry Campbell has seen the effects of Canada's marijuana prohibition
laws first-hand, as an RCMP drug officer for eight years and as chief
coroner of B.C. before his election as mayor of Vancouver in 2002.

He figures the drug should be legalized, controlled -- and taxed like
tobacco.

"There is no question that there is violence tied to the grow-ops.
There is violence involved in the criminal gangs that run them,"
Campbell says.

"The time is here that we should simply take this out of the criminal
element and regulate it. The idea that marijuana is virtually any of
the things that the drug warriors in the United States say is ludicrous.

"They're much like the Conservative government -- they don't believe
in scientific fact.

"The fact of the matter is that if we regulated it, we would probably
find ourselves in much the same way as we are with tobacco right now."

But Campbell is against simply decriminalizing the
drug.

"I don't support that because it sends out a real mixed message. It
says to those that use it, 'This is not a problem, but we're not going
to make it legal.'

"And it says to the drug gangs, 'Congratulations, you just moved up to
a new notch here. Nothing's going to happen to your customers, so you
can grow it and sell it as much as you want.'

"It's just a simpler form of prohibition.

"I don't think that Little Johnny should have a record [for marijuana
use] and I don't think he should be barred from going anywhere
[because of a criminal record].

"Just take a look at Prohibition in the United States with alcohol.
It's as simple as that.

"I would be hard-pressed to find any people that I know who haven't
smoked marijuana and I can tell you that I don't have any of them to
my knowledge who are addicted to any other drugs or marijuana."

Campbell says one thing has convinced opponents marijuana should be
illegal: ideology.

"It's all ideology -- if they're wrong on this, then what else are
they wrong on? They won't even allow hemp. That's how stupid these
people are -- and they are stupid. I describe [White House drug czar
John] Walters as a moron, and he is truly a moron.

"I like to base things that I do on scientific fact. If a scientific
fact said marijuana is a gateway, addictive drug that causes great
harm to society, I'd be [in favour of] life sentences.

"But it's not and we know that. There simply is no evidence to
it.

"In the United States, they have more people in jail per capita than
anywhere in the world, and the majority of them are in there on
drug-related charges.

"Legalizing [marijuana] means you don't have to come down hard on
anyone, plus you get at the $8 billion that we're losing [in taxes] in
the economy of British Columbia.

"If you get to tax it, you get to control it [and] you get to decide
who's going to use it.

"If you want to reduce the use of marijuana, you reduce it exactly the
same way as we do with cigarettes -- you raise the taxes and educate
the people on any harms that there may be, and there are harms.

"Anytime you ingest something into your body, there's going to be
something going on -- and smoking is the least of it.

"And I think there are people who are susceptible to having
difficulties with any substance, including marijuana, but we can limit
those.

"I've said all along: Legalize it, control it and tax the livin' hell
out of it and put it all into health care, straight in," he says.

"In Europe, it's not a crime, it's a nuisance . . . why don't we look
at it like that?

"If [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper gets his way, prisons, like the
United States, will be a growth industry. We'll start destroying
families. [There will be] more crime, breakdown in society and loss of
productivity from good people going to jail for nothing."

Campbell says "there's no question" Canada's marijuana laws are
dictated by the U.S. war on drugs.

"We dance entirely to their tune. We're afraid of what will happen if
we ever legalize marijuana."

Asked what the U.S. could do in response, Campbell says: "They could
invade us. That's not outside the realm of possibility. They've
invaded lots of other friends over the years.

"They could close the border. It would hurt us more than it would hurt
them."

THE POSITIVES

Pain: Increases sense of euphoria. May help minimize pain from
migraine headaches and
from spread of cancer.

Eyes: Reduces intra-ocular pressure, a help to glaucoma patients.

Spasticity: Believed to help calm spasms from spinal-cord injury, MS
and possibly
epilepsy. In the early 1900s, cannabis tinctures were marketed as
anti-spasmodics.

Stomach: Boosts appetite in people who have lost weight from cancer or AIDS.

Nausea: Combats nausea from chemotherapy, helps minimize vomiting.