NO TO POT TICKETING

Alberta Justice Minister Dave Hancock's musings about ticketing people for
simple possession of marijuana - while still maintaining that drug use is a
very bad thing - reflects society's generally confused attitude towards the
issue of smoking.

On the one hand, Hancock says that he wants to find ways to free up the
court system from prosecuting minor possession cases. Marijuana charges
inevitably eat up a lot of laboratory, police and court resources.

Yet at the same time, Hancock went out of his way to say that he doesn't
condone drug use and considers marijuana a major component of the illegal
drug trade. He even suggested that pot is used as a gateway drug to get
people hooked on harder stuff.

We wouldn't disagree with him there. If marijuana is such a serious drug,
why would Hancock suggest that we treat possession as an offence no worse
than speeding, and simply issue a ticket?

This isn't to criticize the justice minister in particular. His mixed
message shows just how confused we get when the discussion turns to
inhaling noxious substances.

It strikes us as bizarre that there is a growing lobby to decriminalize or
legalize marijuana use and paint marijuana smokers as romantic
anti-establishment types striking a blow for personal liberty.

At the same time, social pressures are growing to eradicate cigarettes from
public life. Cigarette smokers are increasingly treated as social pariahs.

These days, it's possible in cities like Vancouver and Toronto to be
smoking pot in public without being busted, yet get fined for smoking a
cigarette outside a designated area.

So while Hancock is thinking about effectively decriminalizing possession
of marijuana, Edmonton city council is about to tighten its already tough
anti-smoking bylaw by outlawing smoking in all restaurants and workplaces.

If both trends continue in their current direction, it's conceivable that
within a decade or so ordinary cigarettes will be illegal while marijuana
joints will be legal.

Easing up on marijuana use while clamping down on cigarette smoking makes
no sense. Cigarettes are under pressure because of the damage they cause to
a person's health.

Yet smoking marijuana brings all the health problems of cigarette smoking,
with the added detriments of impaired learning, co-ordination and memory.

The last thing we need is the government condoning yet another social
problem by easing up on the penalties. Reducing pot charges to ticketing is
a dopy idea.