HYSTERICAL CRUSADE IN PROGRESS

Kootenay-Columbia MP Jim Abbott supports decriminalization for "minor"
marijuana offences but says distributors should get mandatory minimum
sentences. That is, the lucrative illegal market should be left intact
while the people who will inevitably supply it should be punished severely.

That's exactly the same plan that failed in the U.S. during alcohol
prohibition, but never mind.

Then he says that the allowed amount - about 60 joints the way he rolls
them - is far too much for any one person's use. Never mind that Jim could
go to the store right now and load his car with cases of liquor and cartons
of tobacco cigarettes for purely personal use.

Never mind that when the U.S. Government distributes medical marijuana, it
provides 300 joints per month - about 10 per day, and each joint is fully
twice as big as the ones Jim rolls.

He also mentions the "border" - Canadian marijuana is a danger to the U.S.
Never mind that the annual smuggling from Canada doesn't equal what Mexico
ships on a typical day, and wouldn't really compare with selected U.S.
counties, let alone whole states.

He says the Conservative Party made recommendations for the law. Never mind
the recommendations made by all of the major government commissions over
the years - including the most recent report by the Canadian Senate.

There is a hysterical crusade in progress so never mind reality.

Clifford Schaffer

Director, DRCNet Online Library of Drug Policy

Agua Dulce, Calif.