COMMON DRUG SENSE

Common sense is a much-praised quality these days, but it does have its
limitations. Nowhere is that more evident than in the debate on drugs.

Writing on this page last Thursday, in response to, well, us, the Citizen's
estimable Charles Gordon used a couple of arguments out of "real life," as
opposed to "pure logic," to support the continued illegality of recreational
drugs. Unfortunately, they were also wrong. Strange as it sounds, common
sense can make for bad drug policy.

Granted, common sense does seem to say that if illegal drugs already
available on the streets were made legal, there would be far more of them,
and far more people using them. But this is dead wrong.

Between 1973 and 1978, 11 American states decriminalized marijuana --
effectively making possession of it no more serious than a traffic
violation. Consumption trends did not change. They remained the same as in
neighbouring states that kept marijuana possession as a serious offence.

Other jurisdictions that have decriminalized marijuana, including Germany
and some Australian states, have had exactly the same experience. In the
Netherlands, marijuana can be bought in some cafes as easily as buying a
beer, yet marijuana use in the Netherlands is no greater than in America --
where mere possession can result in a life sentence. In fact, between 1992
and 1994, only 7.2 per cent of Dutch youths between 12 and 15 years old
tried marijuana, compared to 13.5 per cent of Americans the same age.

World-wide experience has proved what drug reformers have long argued: Those
who want to use drugs already do; those who don't, won't -- no matter what
the legal status of drugs may be.

Another bit of common sense has it that Canadian law-enforcers already treat
marijuana possession as no big deal. After all, with one in four Canadians
having used it, most of us know people who smoke it without great fear of
the police. The law "winks" at pot, right?

Wrong. Figures for 1995 show that, of 63,851 drug-related charges, 49 per
cent, or 31,299, were for marijuana possession. Not sale. Possession.

The consequences of these charges are serious. A conviction for simple
possession, even if it results in a discharge, means a criminal record.
First offences carry fines of up to $1,000 and up to six months in jail.
Penalties are doubled for second offences. The courts typically do give the
first offender a nominal fine -- and a criminal record -- but repeat
"offenders" are still being sent to jail, particularly if they have other
criminal offences.

In drug policy, nothing is what it seems. Common sense is not enough -- drug
prohibition must be put in the crucible of fact.

Copyright 1998 The Ottawa Citizen

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"