POLITICIANS KEEP BLOWING SMOKE

Too many reasons exist not to legalize marijuana

Marijuana should be legalized as quickly as possible in Canada as it is, de
facto, in British Cannabis. I mean British Columbia.

To do so, the Criminal Code should be amended to eliminate marijuana from
its list of banned substances.

The reasons for this action are quite compelling.

Marijuana cultivation, distribution and export has become one of Canada's
biggest underground industries and is so profitable that it can never be
eradicated. This reality is creating an enormous and powerful underworld of
gangsters who are moving into this sector.

Secondly, it is relatively harmless.

Thirdly, to legalize it would save taxpayers billions in needless police
and court costs and would raise billions in tax dollars annually.

I have always been in favour of legalizing cannabis. But my investigation
of the situation (culminating in a recent three-part series ) made me
realize the magnitude of the clandestine industry and the extent of civil
disobedience underway.

Anyone can invest $20,000 in hydroponics plus labour and can turn their
basement recreation room into an urban cannabis farm for 750 plants (three
harvests) and make $2.25-million. TAX FREE.

And in British Cannabis --where courts turned a blind eye toward marijuana
offences first -- marijuana has become one of the province's biggest
economic sectors in a handful of years.

My calculation is that the marijuana sector is around $29-billion a year
(extrapolating the street value of busted growing operations last year,
which was more than $7-billion, and multiplying this times four, which is
the estimated number of growing operations left.)

Forestry in B.C. is worth $29-billion annually, and agricultural exports to
the United States "only" $10-billion a year.

(Who says Canadians aren't entrepreneurial or into free trade?)

Another reason to legalize it is because Canadian attitudes have shifted in
a remarkable way. Polls show support and courts are rebelling against the
Criminal Code because the Establishment is now comprised of those of us who
grew up in the 1960s, smoked up and realized the practice was harmless.

So do law enforcement personnel. For instance, Vancouver police constable
Jay Osborne, part of a five-man detachment called the Growbusters, agreed
that it should be legalized in a recent interview.

The Growbusters just go around shutting down growing operations and never
pursue full-scale prosecution or investigation against the individuals
involved. That's because the courts don't care and someone caught in a grow
operation will get a $2,000 fine, which is simply like an executive getting
a speeding ticket. The Growbusters shut down 10 operations a week on average.

"I've got friends that smoke pot and so what?" said the constable. "It's a
herb. It's medicinal. It should be studied. It's not any worse than alcohol
or tobacco. I've never gotten into a fight with guys on pot. But drunks can
be really ugly and violent. It's part of the War on Drugs. But that's the
Americans not us."

The fact is that thousands are slaughtered every year by drunken drivers.
Pot smokers, on the other hand, get stoned and can't find the car keys. Of
course, some socio-fascists may argue that tobacco and alcohol should be
banned, too. But using that logic, everything from donut shops to fast cars
should be banned because they "kill" people.

In the absence of political courage, Canada's courts are leading the way.

Two court decisions forced Ottawa to come up with its recently announced
experiment with medical marijuana. The feds are growing the stuff in an
underground cave from confiscated seeds for limited distribution next year
through physicians.

(The Canadian Medical Association wants no part of this because physicians
don't know a thing about marijuana's medical effects. But that's another
story.)

What I'm hoping is that another court decision -- by the Supreme Court of
Canada -- will make marijuana legal as quickly as this year. A landmark
test case (my Aug. 8 piece on marijuana) will be heard in November as to
whether it is unconstitutional to deny consenting adults the right to smoke
or ingest marijuana when it is dramatically less harmful than other legally
permitted drugs.

The state has no right to intrude in this way into our personal lives. On
the other hand, not everything should be allowed.

Individuals must not trample the rights of others in the pursuit of their
own rights. That's why laws banning second-hand smoke are correct and
punishments meted out to drivers who drink are appropriate actions by the
state.

Clearly, Canada's highest court must realize that it is everyone's
constitutional right to smoke or ingest this stuff as long as, by so doing,
they don't harm anyone else.

More importantly, I now realize the facts show that the Prohibition against
Pot is harmful to Canadian society. Not its legalization.