PICK A SIDE, ANY SIDE

Here we go again. Paul Martin's Liberals reintroduced a bill which
would decriminalize marijuana possession and replace criminal charges
with fines for anyone caught with up to 15 grams of marijuana.

The bill was one of the most controversial pieces of legislation to
hit the House of Commons, but died when the last election was called.

If the bill passes, it would mean fines of $400 but no criminal
records for possession charges.

But the bill stops short of actually legalizing marijuana, and
possibly facing the wrath of our southerly neighbour and trading
partner. The U.S. has on numerous occasions issued veiled and
not-so-veiled threats of possible retaliation should Canada actually
take the step of legalizing the widely used product.

"Marijuana use is and remains illegal," says Justice Minister Irwin
Cotler.

"What we have done is alter the penalty frameworks."

Apparently marijuana's really illegal, but not really criminal, unless
you grow it or distribute it or have a whole lot of it.

Then, this same bill actually increases penalties for drug offences.
Prison sentences would be doubled for growers and there are four new
offences which deal with growing operations.

Does this really make sense?

Not really. It's a typical Canadian compromise. Except in this case,
meeting somewhere in the middle just causes more problems that it's
worth.

What governments need to decide is should marijuana be a legal,
regulated drug, like alcohol. Are we willing to say that, like
nicotine, this substance may cause some social problems but we are
willing to accept that and dedicate some resources to it?

Or are we going to stand by the fact that marijuana is illegal for
everyone, except in physician-approved cases?

A marijuana compromise is just adding to the marijuana mess in this
country.