IT'S TIME TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA IN CANADA

Four Vancouver ex-mayors currently advocate the end of laws which
create networks of criminal organizations that use violence and
intimidation to conduct their trade. Nearly 70% of B.C. residents
believe that our current crime control policies are ineffective.

The message is clear - it's time to legalize the possession,
cultivation and distribution of marijuana.

Marijuana has never been a serious health concern, nor has law
enforcement had any lasting impact on its availability. Recent
Canadian research shows the criminalization of marijuana creates and
sustains violence between criminal organizations.

The potential negative health consequences of cannabis are dwarfed by
the harms created by our legal efforts to control its use.

The evils associated with marijuana are the outcome of prohibitionist
policies, and not the pharmacological properties of cannabis.

The most dangerous thing about marijuana is being caught with it by
the police. Cannabis may lead to arrest, imprisonment and exposure to
violence in jail, and a criminal record for life.

Ironically, the senior bureaucrat responsible for administering our
drug laws - the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act - is called the
"Minister of Health."

Drug control can be achieved through education and regulation. Our
deadliest drug - tobacco - is consumed by only 20% Canadians, compared
to 50% in 1965.

This positive change is the result of public education about the harms
of smoking, restrictions on advertising, but not by using the threat
of punishment on tobacco users.

We should be concerned about the wasted money which is spent on
prohibitionist policies that deliver the opposite of their advocates
have promised. It's our responsibility to ask political leaders to
actually lead on this issue, otherwise millions more dollars will be
spent on failed prohibitionist policies.

John Anderson

Nanaimo, B.C.