LEGALIZE MARIJUANA AND CUT THE CRIME RATE

Victoria has a problem with denial.

Despite reports that our crime rate ranks No. 2 among Canadian cities,
we're quickly reassured Victoria is safe.

"Core city syndrome" holds that the city of Victoria scores highly
because it's not really a city, but a downtown for a larger metro
area. People come in from places like Esquimalt and Sidney, commit
crimes, and go home. Or so the theory goes.

So crimes committed by all those roving gangs of Metchosin street
toughs don't count? If police arrest a drug dealer on Pandora Avenue,
but he or she actually lives in Central Saanich, that doesn't count?

That's like saying crimes committed by people named "Maclean" don't
count -- if it happens, it happens. It doesn't really matter who
commits the crimes, or where their legal residence is. Those crimes
weren't invented, and they happened here.

What's particularly interesting about the annual crime surveys is how
high British Columbia cities score, year in and year out.

As uncomfortable as this is to admit in mixed company (even Ontarians)
crime is particularly high in B.C., with five of the nation's top 10
crime-ridden cities, including Prince George at No.1 overall.

Not so coincidentally, B.C. Hydro recently reported it estimates
grow-ops steal $100 million worth of electricity every year. Police
departments simply can't cope with the sheer volume of reported
grow-ops, so they're essentially giving up.

But even if you stomp out supply, demand doesn't just disappear. If
every grow-op in B.C. shut down tomorrow, others would start and
thrive elsewhere in Canada and the U.S.

In other words, like prostitution (and, less fashionably, cars)
marijuana isn't going anywhere and efforts to stop it are ... well,
let's be kind and say "naive." The same could be said about pretending
drivers with a blood alcohol level of .05 are a menace, but that's
another column.

It's not like "demand" is an external problem for B.C., either. This
province has the highest rate of drug-related arrests in Canada -- and
60 per cent of these are for cannabis.

Eighty per cent of all drug arrests are for personal possession; that
is, not trafficking or intent to distribute, but for personal use.

This isn't working, and it's not just a question of simply being
expensive -- it's actually hurting the quality of life here. It's well
past time to legalize marijuana.

Not because it's completely harmless, another embarrassingly stupid
argument you hear distressingly often. Neither is Scotch, but I can
buy a bottle of Oban without fear of my money indirectly supporting
crime. That's just not the case with pot; as things stand now, the act
of buying and smoking it is not a victimless crime.

Have I smoked pot? Of course. I defy you to find someone under 50 who
hasn't at least tried it once. I haven't in years, for the very simple
reason that I don't enjoy it. That's not an ideological position, or
even a disapproving one. I just don't enjoy inhaling smoke, in any
form, at all.

That said, I've never seen a city where you're more likely to see or,
more often, smell people smoking marijuana in public than Victoria.
I'm often amazed that I can smell so much of it, drifting up to my
window -- at 9 a.m.

Why do so few people want to tell the truth about marijuana? Of course
it's perfectly possible to use it responsibly and in moderation. Yes,
it's "just a plant." But so is the coca leaf. It's a drug, which can
be addictive and most definitely diminishes mental performance. I
wouldn't feel any safer with a stoner behind the wheel than a drunk.

Does that justify prohibiting it -- or rather, attempting
to?

No. Adults should be free to make these decisions on their own, as
with gambling and alcohol. It does not follow that I should be barred
from enjoying a pint because another poor soul can't be trusted to
stop at one.

But equally importantly, like cigarettes in prison, marijuana has
become a form of currency. It's traded for cocaine, a drug that has
more immediate and dire societal consequences, up to and including
mass murders in Mexico.

So yes, marijuana should be decriminalized. But that doesn't mean
B.C.'s collective pot industry and habit is anything to be proud of --
or that it doesn't have real consequences.