BOWERING IN FAVOUR OF LEGALIZING POT

North's Public Health Director Calls For Reform To Drug Laws, RCMP
Remain Opposed

The head of public health for the North wants to see radical reform in
how Canada deals with psychoactive drugs.

Dr. David Bowering told The Interior News last week that legalization
of marijuana needs to be the subject of much more open and frank
public discussion.

Bowering is a member of the Health Officers Council of British
Columbia (HOC) that, in October 2005, released a position paper
calling for a public health approach to drug control.

At the heart of the matter, Bowering said, is harm
reduction.

The 38-page document cites more than 100 studies and articles
supporting the idea the drug control belongs in the domain of public
health, not the criminal justice system.

"The federal government needs to take a leadership role at the
national and international levels in actively initiating reform of
current psychoactive drug laws, including a review and revision of the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, to create regulatory frameworks
for drugs that will allow governments at all levels to better address
the harms associated with the production, trade, distribution, and use
of these substances," the report states.

The HOC is not alone. In 2002, a committee of the Canadian Senate
released a 600-page report, one of the conclusions of which was that
prohibition does not work and should be replaced with a regulatory
regime like those for tobacco and alcohol.

The argument is even finding its way into the local
courts.

Two weeks ago in defending Ernest Pete - a street-level pot dealer
caught up in a regional drug sting in September 2006 - defence
attorney Ian Lawson asked for leniency based on growing acceptance of
pot use among Canadians. Judge William Jack, however, was not
convinced sentencing Pete to four months.

Despite the high profile proponents of reform, opposition to any kind
of softening of drug laws remains powerful, particularly among law
enforcement agencies.

Acting commander of the Smithers detachment Ray Haugen refused to
comment saying it is a matter of national policy.

Sylvie Tremblay, an Ottawa spokesperson for the Mounties, explained
the policy.

"The RCMP does not support decriminalization of marijuana and this is
also the position of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police,"
she said.

"Our overriding goal is to ensure safe homes and safe communities for
Canadians and we believe that marijuana use and the criminality that
surrounds it harms individuals and communities."