WEED WAR UP IN SMOKE

Increased funding for anti-marijuana law enforcement in both Canada
and the United States has failed to decrease marijuana supply,
potency and use, a new report suggests.

The report entitled How Not to Protect Community Health and Safety:
What the Government's Own Data Say About the Effects of Cannabis
Prohibition, released by Stop the Violence BC, uses 20 years of data
collected by the Canadian and U.S. governments.

"It's an audit of the governments' own data and what it shows ... is
that cannabis prohibition has been a spectacular failure, despite
pretty astronomical increases in funding for anti-marijuana law
enforcement," said Dr. Evan Wood, a physician and founder of Stop the
Violence BC, a coalition of prominent police officers, health
professionals, legal experts and academics.

The report shows that in Canada at least $260 million in government
funding has been given to the National Anti-Drug Strategy since 2007,
with the majority allocated toward anti-drug law efforts.

Canada has also seen a 70 per cent increase in arrests for
cannabis-related offences, up to 65,000 in 2009 from 39,000 in 1990.

Despite the hike in funding and arrests, Wood points out the current
system fuels gang warfare and youth in B.C. still have easier access
to pot than cigarettes or alcohol.

The 2009 Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey reported
that 27 per cent of B.C. youth aged 15-24 used cannabis at least once
the previous year. Meanwhile, the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health
Survey showed high schoolers' cannabis use doubled to more than 20
per cent in 2009 from less than 10 per cent in 1991.

The coalition also released a survey Wednesday showing a majority of
British Columbians believe alcohol is more harmful than cannabis.

According to the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, federal
anti-drug expenditures saw a 600 per cent increase to more than $18
billion in 2002 from $1.5 billion in 1981. But during the same
period, cannabis potency increased by 145 per cent and its price
decreased by 58 per cent.

"By every metric this policy has been a failure," Wood said, adding
the Health Officers' Council of B.C. has endorsed the coalition's
call for ending marijuana prohibition.

"Having every medical health officer from every region in B.C.
agreeing that taxation and regulation under a public-health framework
is the way forward really puts the pressure on politicians to justify
the maintenance of the status quo," he added.