DON'T KEEP OFF THE GRASS, TAX IT

At a recent dinner party with friends, we'd just polished off a lovely
dessert when our host, a translator, capped the evening off with a big fat
joint, some high quality hydroponic. Throughout the dinner we'd joked and
laughed and discussed everything from Elian Gonzalez to art -- and now that
our heads were floating in a stinky sweet cloud of bud, the talk turned to
pot.

It was the usual small talk at first -- where one could score good grass,
costs, availability -- when the architect at the table piped in: "I dream
of the day when I can step into a corner store and purchase a
quarter-ounce, just like a pack of cigarettes."

A librarian then asked: "When is government going to get off its high horse
and recognize cannabis for the natural plant it is?"

I said that what amazed me was how much money government wastes trying to
keep cannabis in check.

"What amazes me even more is how much money they're losing in potential tax
revenue," remarked a web-designer.

"Funny you should say that," said our host. He said he had just translated
something for Statistics Canada about how illicit drug sales in this
country account for as much as $18-billion of underground revenue. "That's
a lot of tax-free currency," said our host. And most illicit drug use in
Canada is cannabis related. "The figures speak for themselves," he said.
"All the government needs to do is legalize it and start collecting a
40-per-cent tax, like they do to on gas, cigarettes or alcohol. They'd be
looking at billions."

At the table there was a house painter, who had been an independent
marijuana grower until he was threatened by a gang. "The only people who
benefit from keeping marijuana illegal are the criminals who control the
supply and distribution," he said. "The peace-lovin' pot heads of the world
are keeping a violent criminal underworld rich. And these criminals spray
their plants with dangerous pesticides and herbicides, without concern for
the health effects on people smoking the stuff."

A doctor at the table, the only non-smoker, pointed out that no one knows
the long-term health implications of daily marijuana use. It could be as
dangerous as tobacco, he said, and at least with tobacco, there's a level
of quality control. "As a doctor, it seems irresponsible not to legalize
it; people are eventually going to develop health-related problems because
of grass consumption." He wanted to tax marijuana and throw that revenue
back into the health-care system to handle the eventual onslaught of
cannabis-related problems.

This raised the question of how many Canadians smoke grass. My host said
that a conservative guess is that as much as 23 per cent of the population
has tried it.

"That's insane," said the doctor. "Who's going to pay the costs if and when
that 23 per cent develop marijuana-related health problems? If it's not the
criminal underworld, then who? The taxpayers?" The government would serve
the people better if they saved the money they wasted on policing the drug
trade, he said. Legalization would not only eliminate the criminal and
violent element currently attached to grass, it would also create the
necessary tax dollars needed to ensure higher-quality health care for all.

"But legalization will drive up prices," insisted another guest.

Ah, I replied: "Once it's decriminalized there won't be any fear of growing
in your house. Light and a little water, and anybody with a green thumb can
keep themselves in supply -- free of charge."