POT SMOKING

The reality of this situation will be that once a youth ( or adult )
gets a couple of these tickets ( or perhaps sees this article ) they
will know not to smoke marijuana in schoolyards this summer ( which
is a good thing ) but instead will seek out more secretive, dangerous
places such as underpasses, underground parking lots and back alleys
( which is a bad thing ) where chances of assault or injury increase.

By the way, the current Bill C-17 before the House of Commons would
make some types of cannabis use subject to a ticket. While this is
not acceptable to most Canadians, since a majority feel cannabis
users ( 57% according to a NORML Canada/SES Poll from November 2004 )
should be left alone, ticketing users would be more intellectually
honest than calling this type of behavior "trespassing."

Of course, just as there are companies that will fight your speeding
ticket, expect a cottage industry of paralegal-type services to fight
these tickets too. As usual, only the middlemen will get rich with
this scheme. The eventual solution is to regulate cannabis, and make
sure no one under 19 is able to buy marijuana -- similar to alcohol
and tobacco.

Tim Meehan

Ottawa