WE SHOULD REGULATE POT, NOT CRIMINALIZE IT

California conundrum: Whatever the vote, issue will head
here

It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings. And, just as I thought the
California initiative to legalize marijuana was heading to certain
victory, along comes a poll showing voters in the Golden State are
leaning against the groundbreaking measure.

Yes, a Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted at the start of this month found
53 per cent opposed Proposition 19. Just 43 per cent said they
favoured it.

Mind you, as low in the polls politicians keep reminding us, the only
poll that really counts is the one that takes place on voting day, now
less than two weeks away.

Vancouver's Jodie Emery, the current cannabis culture boss, believes
it will be a nail-biter.

"It's going to be very, very close," she told me Tuesday, adding
she'll soon be flying to Oakland, Calif., to campaign for the
proposition. "It's hard to tell which way it will go."

Not that Emery is anything like the proverbial fat lady. She's the
slim, young, politically savvy wife of Prince of Pot Marc Emery,
currently in jail in Seattle after pleading guilty to seed-selling
charges.

And she's sure of one thing: "This is the most important vote that we
[the marijuana movement] have ever had."

As California goes, so goes America . . . and eventually Canada. And I
agree with her, it's only a matter of time before British Columbians
will be able to puff away on their porch as freely as they can quaff a
beer.

Passage of Proposition 19 on Nov. 2 would certainly expedite the
process. But, in the short term, it could actually hurt the B.C.
marijuana industry.

Indeed, Emery predicts there could be a "brain drain" of growers
leaving our province for California.

"We get a lot of tourism in B.C. from people around the world who come
here to experience the cannabis culture," she said. "But once you can
go to California and go to a vineyard of sorts with a bed and
breakfast - or a 'bud and breakfast', I guess you could say - why
would they come to Vancouver?"

As for her own political ambitions, the 25-year-old Emery revealed
she's considering running for the Non-Partisan Association next year
in Vancouver's civic elections, and will attend a party fundraiser
later today.

Though green, she's obviously no left-winger: "I believe in lower
taxation, lower regulation, private property and all that."

And her husband? She misses him terribly. But she visits him in prison
every week in Seattle, and is happy he occupies his time by writing
his autobiography and generally keeping his brain busy.

The Obama administration, meanwhile, has made it clear it is strongly
opposed to Proposition 19. And U.S. Attorney-General Eric Holder says
federal authorities will continue to prosecute Californians for
possession of marijuana.

However, former U.S. surgeon-general Joycelyn Elders makes a
compelling argument when she says the problem with the current
marijuana law is that it criminalizes so many young people, and
expends so many resources doing it.

"It's not a toxic substance," Elders told CNN.

I disagree it's not toxic. But then most recreational and medicinal
drugs are harmful to some degree. We just need to regulate them well
and educate people properly about their side-effects.