HEALTH OFFICERS BACK LEGAL POT

A group of B.C. public health officers has joined a growing coalition
of policy leaders urging the legalization and taxation of marijuana.

The Health Officers Council of B.C. voted to endorse Stop the Violence
B.C. and called for regulation of illegal substances like marijuana to
reduce the harm from substance use and the unintended consequences of
government policies.

"The Health Officer's Council and other experts are not saying
that marijuana should be legalized and taxed because it is safe," said
Dr. Paul Hasselback, a Vancouver Island medical health officer who
chairs the council.

"We are saying that proven public health approaches should be used to
constrain its use. There is now more danger to the public's health
in perpetuating a market driven by criminal activity."

The coalition argues prohibition has failed and enforcement has little
impact on drug use, merely fueling the $7-billion illegal pot industry
that experts say is directly linked to the spike in gang-related
killings since 1997.

A report released by Stop the Violence says teens find it easy to buy
marijuana and pot use among them is up considerably since the 1990s,
despite heavy spending on drug enforcement.

"By every metric, this policy is failing to meet its objectives," said
Dr. Evan Wood, a Vancouver doctor and founder of the coalition.

By regulating the market, he said, the distribution and use of
marijuana would be more controlled and would also eliminate organized
crime from the equation.

It would also provide a source of tax revenue in the hundreds of
millions, he added.

B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall said he generally
agrees with the public health officers' statement on marijuana reform
although he was not formally part of their endorsement.

"I support their call for a review of the effectiveness of current
prohibition and criminalization and discussion of a more effective
public health-based approach," Kendall said.

Cannabis arrests in Canada climbed from 39,000 in 1990 to more than
65,000 in 2009, according to the coalition.

An estimated 27 per cent of young B.C. residents aged 15-24 used pot
at least once in 2008, according to one poll.

Four former Vancouver mayors have also backed the coalition.