DOUBLE STANDARD ON JOINTS

Only Marijuana Smoke Allowed In Public Venues

Pro-pot advocates won't agree with me, but here goes.

How can people get away with toking up inside a concert venue, in the
most intrusive jurisdiction in the Lower Mainland? Meanwhile, people
can't light up cigarettes anywhere inside a building without severe reprimands.

One of our staff members attended the Bob Dylan concert in the
Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver on Thursday. I was told the next day
that many people lit up joints during the concert, and they were
asked politely to put them out. No other action was taken, and the
same pot smokers later lit up again.

What would have happened if someone had dared to light a cigarette in
that most venerable and beloved Vancouver theatre? Would they have
received a polite rebuke, or would they have been asked to leave?

Why is there a double standard at work here? Why is it wrong to light
up a cigarette, a legal product, but alright to light up a joint? Is
it because it's a rock concert?

This whole incident illustrates the goofy Canadian attitude to
marijuana. We seem to think it's just fine to encourage people to
smoke dope, while at the same time governments are coming down heavy
on the tobacco industry. There is no doubt that smoking cigarettes
does lead to cancer and other diseases. Some studies indicate that
heavy marijuana use may cause some of the same problems.

Any ingestion of smoke into the body can cause problems. That's why
firefighters have a much higher risk of getting cancer - their
occupation requires them to be exposed to smoke much more frequently
than most other jobs.

I happen to agree with the ban on smoking in bars, restaurants,
workplaces and other public places. I also happen to agree with
government efforts to restrict cigarette smoking, and to try and keep
cigarettes away fromw young people.

At the same time, I believe that the federal and provincial
governments should be just as vigilant towards marijuana smoking. It
is no better than cigarette smoking, and it certainly leaves just as
much smoke and odour as cigarettes do.

I do believe that medicinal marijuana use makes sense. If smoking
marijuana relieves pain from chronic illness, people should be
allowed to smoke it - in their own homes. The federal government has
made this legal.

Marijuana has far less effect on the body than morphine, which is
given to people in hospitals for pain relief.

However, let's end the double standard. If you can't smoke cigarettes
inside a theatre, you shouldn't be able to light up a joint.