EXAMINE IDEA OF MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION

Forget the collapse of the housing market in the United States -- and
recent statistics show it remains in the tank -- which means B.C.'s
moribund forest industry will remain on life support, voters in
California this fall could spell the death knell for a thriving B.C.
industry.

It looks as though some Californians have taken legendary Reggae
singer Peter Tosh's song 'Legalize It' literally and are running with
it. If passed in November, a state-wide voter initiative would
legalize the cultivation, possession and sale of marijuana.

Legalizing marijuana has broad support in the state, with some 56% of
Californians surveyed in an April, 2009 Field Poll saying they
favoured making it legal for social use and taxing the sales proceeds.
In October, Gallup found 44% of all Americans favoured
legalization.

B.C. bud is this province's largest export, albeit an illegal
one.

Activists in the Beach Boys state say that taxing marijuana sales
could help bail out the cash-strapped state government.

I wonder if B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell has discussed this issue with
his green-thinking bro Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Think of the consequences if B.C. legalized, regulated and taxed the
growing and selling of pot in this province. Heck it might upset a few
people. Rich Coleman comes to mind as his plan to get us gambling
online would be pass?. And the gang bangers who sell pot would
complain because of unfair government competition. Let's not forget
the oregano growers, whose product has often been used to cut into a
nickel or dime bag of pot, lose a substantial market.

Lastly, there are those international financiers who are rubbing their
hands in anticipation as interest rates look like they are on the move
up and, with B.C.'s ever-increasing debt, that's more provincial
taxpayers' money ending up in bankers' pockets.

Yes there are drawbacks: Do we really understand the long-term health
impacts of marijuana use? Frankly I can't see inhaling smoke from any
substance, even one that advocates say is benign as being good for
me.

Still the government has no qualms about legalizing and expanding
gambling and it has boosted the amount people can bet on its online
betting plan to $9,999. The province has no worries about legalizing
and taxing the heck out of the biggest killer in Canada -- tobacco
products.

It also makes a fortune from the sin taxes British Columbians pay when
we purchase alcohol products. Vintners of that bottle of B.C. plonk,
you paid $17 for in the B.C. Liquor Store probably received less than
a quarter of that price, with the rest of the retail price being some
kind of tax. Imported wines are taxed even higher.

So government can't take the moral high ground when it comes to the
sale and taxing of drugs.

Some may argue, why increase the choices people have or conversely,
why stop at pot -- why not legalize heroin?

Each substance should be looked at individually. I've talked to
doctors, police officers and lawyers who do not oppose the
legalization of marijuana. I've not heard any of them speak glowingly
about crack or smack.

A prosecutor in the Crown counsel office told me many years ago that
"you never hear of a guy smoking a joint or two and then going home
and beating the heck out of his wife but it happens all the time with
alcohol."

His quote came in an article I wrote about how alcohol misuse was
clogging our court system.

I'm not sure I agree with legalizing marijuana but I do believe bean
counters in Victoria and Ottawa should be examining the pros and cons
of doing so.