LEGALIZE CANNABIS

Sleeman Brewery has a new advertising campaign that highlights the
shady side of the family heritage. The TV spots look back to 19th
century England when they got out of piracy and into brewing. This
smooth evolution of business models set up the family well. Future
generations would continue to prosper. One of the ads refers to Al
Capone, the Chicago gangster who ran illegal booze into backroom bars
across the northern States.

Willing Canadian entrepreneurs like the Sleemans and the Bronfmans got
comfortably wealthy providing their products during the prohibition
years. From 1919 until 1933 it was illegal to make, sell or consume
alcohol in the United States. The law did nothing to stop the trade.
It was widely flaunted. As many as 100,000 "speakeasies" operated in
New York City alone. They were just as widespread in other cities like
Detroit and Chicago.

Organized crime grew strong on the illegal alcohol trade. They
controlled everything from distribution to the final point of sale.
When they felt the need, they thought nothing of killing people who
stood in their way. Citizens who led otherwise honest lives were given
criminal records when found in possession of a flask of rum or a
flagon of ale.

Fast forward to today. Instead of a case of Sleeman Cream Ale, think
of an ounce of BC Bud. Distribution and sale is still controlled by
organized crime. Honest citizens are still given criminal records for
possessing it. In July 2009, Statistics Canada reported that violent
crimes across the country declined. Yet, they said, "cannabis offences
increased in 2008, while declines were reported for cocaine and other
drug offences. Possession of cannabis, which continued to account for
almost half of all drug offences, posted a rate increase of five per
cent."

While all this is going on, one of the most addictive and harmful
substances known is widely available and sold in corner stores
throughout the land. There is no good reason why alcohol and tobacco
should be legal while marijuana is not. Yes, some people will become
addicted to it, but some are also addicted to alcohol. Everyone who
smokes cigarettes for any length of time becomes addicted. Many will
also die of cancer.

Smoking pot is probably not good for you. It's been a few decades
since I bothered with it. Breathing any kind of smoke into your lungs
is a stupid and dangerous thing to do. The risk of addiction, or
tragic health consequences, are obviously not determining factors in
decisions about legality. If they were, tobacco would have been banned
years ago.

Legalize cannabis, tax it and sell it through the LCBO stores. Failure
to do so leads to ridiculous events like the recent raid on the
Medical Cannabis Club of Guelph. That such a club even exists shows
the extent to which people must go to possess the stuff without legal
risks. When you look at a list of the medical conditions that are
helped by it -from multiple sclerosis to glaucoma -just about anyone
could talk their doctor into prescribing it.

Laws do not stop crime. If they did, we wouldn't need police. Laws are
a statement of society's moral values. Values change. Many things that
used to be illegal are now allowed. Alcohol, divorce, homosexuality,
abortion, contraception, books by D. H. Lawrence. The opposite is also
true.

Racial discrimination used to be government policy. Now it's against
the law. Attitudes change over time. Sooner or later a tipping point
is reached. That's when laws and penalties are overhauled. We have
reached the tipping point with cannabis.