BILL C-15'S CANNABIS CLAUSE POINTLESSLY HARSH

We should all be concerned about the Conservatives' attempt to pass
Bill C-15 ["Bill C-15 could fill prisons", March 26-April 2], which
will impose mandatory minimum sentencing for growing and trafficking
marijuana and other drug offenses. This war-on-drugs approach will no
doubt do more harm than good. It's a failed policy that could ensnare
not just those involved in organized crime but medical-marijuana
users, who in many cases are merely trying to deal with living with
debilitating and serious illnesses.

The Conservatives and Liberals who are supporting the bill may claim
that it is only gang members and violent offenders that this is meant
to target, but when it comes to actual enforcement, do we really think
that police are going to discriminate? More likely they might find a
person growing a few plants in a closet and arrest them regardless of
their motives. What if that person is someone with chronic pain, HIV,
or multiple sclerosis, and they are growing marijuana for medicine
because it's the only thing that is effective in alleviating their
symptoms? Should that person really be forced to face a sentence of
six months in prison for this "crime"?

At the B.C. Compassion Club Society, a nonprofit medical-marijuana
dispensary and holistic wellness centre where I work, we often see the
effects of cannabis prohibition on our members and society at large.
People with legitimate medical reasons for using cannabis are
arrested, kicked out of their apartments, and fired from jobs. This is
criminalizing and stigmatizing some of society's poorest and sickest
members.

At the BCCCS, we believe in an individual's right to choose the form
of medicine they use and to do so without the threat of prosecution
and imprisonment. The evidence is clear on all fronts: that marijuana
is a safe and effective medicine for treating an incredible range of
illnesses and conditions, and that throwing someone in jail for
growing a few plants serves no end in deterring crime and dealing with
drug use in society.

Jayce Sale

Vancouver