MACE GRAB HURT THE CAUSE

Alliance MP's Angry Action Set Drug-Law Debate Back Years

In his anger at the government squashing his private member's bill to
decriminalize marijuana, Keith Martin may have set decriminalization back a
few years. Instead of accepting last week's defeat, Martin grabbed the
ceremonial mace, symbol of parliamentary authority.

Contacted in Ottawa, Martin says he was protesting how undemocratic the
system has become. Well, OK. But to millions of Canadians, Martin at that
moment looked like something out of Reefer Madness: crazy and dangerous.

This was too bad, because the Canadian Alliance MP worked long and hard to
bring some sanity to our drug laws. In the furore over the mace his bill
was not discussed -- and it was sane stuff.

Bill C-344 would have made possession or selling of less than one gram of
hashish or 30 grams (about an ounce) of marijuana no longer a criminal
offence. Instead, offenders would be ticketed, and have to pay a fine -
$200 for first offence.

Right now, a first-time offender is subject to a prison sentence of six
months, a fine of up to $1,000 and a criminal record. Now, that's crazy.

Martin is a B.C. physician who worked for 13 years in detox centres, and
also worked as a prison guard. It was those experiences, and reading about
the effects of marijuana on health -- and on the justice system -- that
prompted him to become one of the country's leading proponents of
decriminalization.

He points out that studies estimate $400 million is spent every year by
police, courts and correction facilities in Canada. In 1998, 71,293 drug
offences were reported by the RCMP, with almost half involving marijuana.
So Martin estimates that decriminalizing pot would save $150 million every
year.

"Imagine the time and resources that would be free to pursue the fight
against hard drugs and other crimes," he says, "if we simply fined those
individuals caught with a small amount of cannabis."

He also points out that:

*The RCMP and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police support
decriminalization.

*Almost three-quarters of Canadians believe marijuana should be
decriminalized or possession of small amounts penalized by a fine, while
only 24 per cent believe it should be a criminal offence.

*Many Canadians have little or no respect for drug laws, partly as a result
of marijuana prohibition.

If decriminalization was put to an open vote in the House of Commons,
Martin says, his polling of members suggests 60 per cent would vote in
favour. "They know that the current laws are absurd," he said, "and that
punitive, draconian drug laws are a failure."

Unfortunately, the governing Liberals decided to kill his bill. So a
harmful, unnecessary and crazy prohibition will continue.

"This government operates through polls, not for the public good," Martin
believes. "They're not willing to act on things of substance.

"Their attitude is, when sitting at 50 per cent in the polls, why act? If
you do something substantive, you risk drawing attention to yourself. So
it's better to be an amorphous blob."

To those who believe that legalizing marijuana would be best of all --
because that would hurt organized crime and raise tax revenue -- Martin
says it can't happen. Decriminalization is as good as it can possibly get.
"(If we made marijuana legal) there would be a trade war with the U.S.," he
said. "Our trade treaties prevent us from legalizing illegal drugs."