DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA, SENATORS TOLD

Canada Has 'Simply Followed' U.S. Policy

OTTAWA - The federal government should take marijuana offences out of the
Criminal Code and allow the provinces to regulate its use according to
local cultural demands, a Senate committee heard Monday.

A leading psychologist from Simon Fraser University who has devoted three
decades to studying drug addiction said it's time Canada developed it's own
drug polices, independent of the war-on-drugs hype of the United States.

"Canadian policy (on drugs) has simply followed the American policy, lock
step, from the beginning," Professor Bruce Alexander told a special Senate
committee that has launched a two-year inquiry into drug policy in Canada.

Another professor, who was a member of the 1969 LeDain Commission into
drugs, went further, telling the committee Canada should legalize all drugs
and leave regulations in place to control only the price of drugs, their
quality and the age of the purchasers.

Marie-Andree Bertrand, now a professor emeritus of criminology at the
University of Montreal, said millions of Canadians use marijuana, or
cannabis, and if the law against its possession were rigorously enforced,
the justice system would collapse.

"What would they do with five million Canadians, if you brought them before
the courts tomorrow morning?" asked Bertrand.

She argued all drugs must be legalized to avoid an increase in organized
crime involvement with harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

Alexander said research has proved cannabis is no more addictive than many
other vices, including gambling, alcohol and even sex.