Pot Law Wrong, Grit Leader Says

By Ali Sharrif

As the government war against cannabis continues to intensify, Dalton
McGuinty, the leader of the Ontario Liberal party, believes it's time pot
was decriminalized.

He says the current situation, where marijuana offenders are slapped with
penalties that give them permanent records, leads to too many ruined lives.

"In many cases, particularly in smaller communities where judges tend to
view this offence differently, you get a record and it makes it tough on
young people who made a mistake," he says in an interview. "It is hard
enough for young people today without having to contend with a criminal
record.

"I suggested that maybe one of the things that the federal government ought
to be looking at is decriminalizing not legalizing simple possession
so that it would become a provincial offence."

Figures show that the law continues to snare an everincreasing number of
marijuana smokers. Since 1994, arrests in marijuana offences have gone up
for two consecutive years. The last figures available from the Canadian
Centre for Justice statistics (CCFJS) show 29,562 adults were arrested in
1996, 28,380 in 1995 and 27,662 in 1994 for marijuana offences.

The majority of arrests, about 75 per cent, are for possession.

"It might be that (either) drug enforcement or consumption has increased,"
says John Turner, media spokesperson for CCFJS.

Despite growing public sentiment for decriminalization, the federal
government isn't about to change the tough Bill C8, the beefedup
antidrug law that came into force earlier this year.