HEALTH OFFICERS BACK LEGAL MARIJUANA

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.

Four former Vancouver mayors have also backed the coalition.