WHEN WILL THE HAZE CLEAR?

Is There Anybody Left Who Doesn't Want To Decriminalize Pot?

How is it that one baby step on the long and winding road from reefer
madness to some semblance of soft-drug sanity has been transformed into a
giant leap for all mankind?

It has been nearly 80 years since Canada first banned the sale and
consumption of marijuana under the 1923 Opium and Drug Act and nearly 30
since a royal commission revisited the issue and recommended reversing that
decision.

Where are we now?

Well, consider that most adult Canadians younger than 60 have at least
tried marijuana, that most of us inhaled, that many of those who did so
enjoyed it enough to do it more than once and that a good number of good
Canadians -- 1.5 million of us, according to the estimate of the Canadian
Medical Association -- continue to smoke it now and again without ill
effect ... unless, of course, they happen to be among the 25,000 Canadians
arrested each year for simple possession of marijuana.

Even the right-wing Fraser Institute says Canada's war on drugs has been a
costly, ineffective and abysmal -- if you'll pardon the expression -- bust.

The Economist, the respected British-based magazine of international
business and economics, would agree. It recently went so far as to lay out
a compelling case for eventually legalizing all drugs.

According to one recent poll conducted by the University of Lethbridge, 47
per cent of Canadians -- nearly half of us -- now favour the outright
legalization of marijuana.

So why all the fuss about Canadian Alliance MP Keith Martin's private
members' bill to "decriminalize" marijuana possession?

Instead of ending up -- as 600,000 Canadians already have -- with a
criminal record that could land you in jail for up to five years and bar
you from becoming a doctor, lawyer, architect or other professional simply
because you got caught with a joint or two, Martin's proposed law would
make smoking up a civil rather than criminal offence with fines of up to
$1,000 instead of jail time as the penalty for getting caught.

It's a start, but a ridiculously small and tentative one.

The list of those who favour decriminalization is long and diverse. The
Canadian Medical Association, which concluded that the health effects of
moderate marijuana use are "minimal," supports decriminalization. As does
the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, which argues that busting
ordinary people for small quantities ties up scarce police resources that
could be put to better use catching real criminals.

Many politicians, including Progressive Conservative Leader Joe Clark, have
already climbed aboard the decriminalization bandwagon. And both of the
Liberal cabinet ministers whose portfolios would be most affected --
Justice Minister Anne MacLellan and Health Minister Allan Rock -- have
mused openly about the need for a public debate on the issue.

Given all of that -- and the reality that polls show 65 per cent of
Canadians favour decriminalization -- the wonder really is that Martin's
bill isn't government legislation. And that it doesn't go much further in
recognizing reality.

Ah, well, perhaps when the haze clears ...