FIVE YEARS FOR SHARING

Many a greying baby boomer remembers the first social rule among marijuana
smokers is "don't bogart" -- that is, hoard -- "that joint." What they
likely don't know is that anyone who follows this friendly advice and
shares the weed is guilty of drug trafficking.

That's right: even if no money changes hands -- if you're simply offering a
puff to another person in the spirit of generosity floating in the air at a
Grateful Dead concert -- you can be considered a trafficker under Canadian
law and face five years in a federal penitentiary. Of course, it's rare for
someone to be charged with trafficking simply for sharing, but it does happen.

Consider Marc Emery, the president of the British Columbia Marijuana Party.
Last spring, as part of a series of protests, Mr. Emery spoke at the
University of Saskatchewan, lit up a joint and, following the pot smokers'
Golden Rule, passed it to a friend. As Mr. Emery expected -- he has done
this many times before -- he was arrested. But he was charged with
trafficking, not possession. And last week, he was sentenced to three
months in jail for dealing drugs.

There are many grounds on which to be aghast at this, not least being the
simple stupidity of jailing a man who isn't the slightest threat to public
safety. There's also the sheer absurdity of it: Almost no one would
seriously consider a person who shares a joint a "drug dealer," and yet
that is precisely what the law says.

And don't forget about the colossal waste of tax dollars involved. We paid
to have trained police officers watch Mr. Emery take a puff and carefully
note that he did indeed refuse to bogart. We paid for prosecutors to argue
that this qualifies as trafficking and a judge to agree. And we are paying
for the jail cell Mr. Emery sits in and the guards who watch over him at
all hours lest the fiend again attempt to roll a joint and share it with a
friend.

The silliest elements of this affair will end when Mr. Emery walks free,
fortunately. But the case stands as a warning about a serious travesty that
is only going to get worse.

The Liberal government has promised to re-introduce its decriminalization
legislation in the fall, which will, if passed, mean those caught in
possession of small amounts of pot will get tickets instead of criminal
charges.

Most Canadians support decriminalization, thinking as they do that it means
the costly and futile war on marijuana will at least be scaled back. But
documents obtained by the Citizen show the government actually wants and
expects decriminalization to lead to more enforcement of the ban on
marijuana possession.

Since decriminalization won't change the definition of trafficking,
officials will still be free to deem anyone who passes a joint to be a
trafficker. And since most pot smokers do pass the joint, police and
prosecutors dealing with casual tokers will be free, whenever they wish, to
hit them with criminal trafficking charges. Such fantastically arbitrary
power invites abuse.

Readers who find these fears a little alarmist are invited to discuss the
matter further with Marc Emery -- though they may have to wait a few months
to do so.