LEGISLATORS, MEDIA MORE ADDLED THAN POTHEADS

Once again we are treated to the spectacle of Vancouver attempting to
lead the way in national drug policy, and once again it's a slapstick
comedy.

Soon after Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell sheepishly announced the
city's shoot-up site was a bigger "success" than expected (meaning
lots more junkies using this taxpayer-financed "service"), it was
"revealed" that there has been a plan all along to open a "safe"
crack-smoking room, which has already been built.

This aspect of the plan appears to have collapsed under the weight of
its own ridiculousness, but not to worry, it will be back eventually.
And then an Amsterdam-style pot retail shop called Da Kine is
"revealed" on Commercial Drive.

I couldn't help noticing the way the "news" coverage was
handled.

After a standard city media gang-tackle in the first two weeks of
September, the public was eventually told that this high-volume
trafficking operation has in fact been operating all summer.

Tourists knew, hundreds if not thousands of customers knew, the
neighbourhood certainly knew.

But in a city with two dailies, four TV stations and two news radio
stations, the general public didn't know until the store sent out a
press release!

(It might be a coincidence, but in the weeks before Da Kine was
"revealed", a top editor of the city's largest daily wrote a long
series describing the massage of different parts of his body. The same
paper's city columnist wrote of how pretty his feet are, and included
a studio portrait of his feet. A detailed description of somebody's
navel may be next, but I digress).

Once the city media were led by the hand to the story, the mayor found
out, and shrugged it off.

Then the police admitted they had known for some time.

Then B.C.'s solicitor general felt moved to issue a statement that the
Narcotic Control Act is still in effect, even in Vancouver, and that
selling marijuana is in fact still illegal.

Then the store was busted.

Regular folks, especially those seeing this store operate unmolested
all summer, could be forgiven for concluding that marijuana had been
legalized.

Some of the young people I've heard from seem convinced it's legal
now.

Why? Well, for one thing, the former prime minister said simple
possession would be decriminalized.

That legislation, launched with fanfare, was left like other bills to
die on the order paper, leaving the impression that the federal
government was interested in a short-term publicity hit, not actual
governing.

Some of these young people may also have seen a recent program on
CBC's "all-news" channel called "Play Goes to Pot".

The host of this taxpayer-funded public television "news" program
sported a custom-printed "Play Goes to Pot" t-shirt and microphone,
both decorated with big green marijuana leaves.

He gleefully interviewed pot activist Marc Emery and his guests as
they took part in a marijuana tasting that involved smoking huge
joints and making increasingly incoherent comments on the taste and
"buzz" of the various strains on hand.

The striking thing about this show, aside from the use of plastic bags
to deliver "supertokes" to the giggling participants, and the
enthusiastic approval of the host, was the sheer quantity consumed.

It was the dope equivalent of guzzling Jack Daniel's out of the
bottle, Keith Richards-style.

(This bit of responsible public TV is just the latest proof that CBC
television should be sold off or simply unplugged, but again I
digress). What's a kid to make of a show like that, or of a federal
government like ours?

The kid, or for that matter adult, is likely to conclude that Canadian
law is a joke, and he or she would be right.

If young people don't show sufficient deference to police or teachers
or others, perhaps it's partly because these attitudes trickle down
from the top.

They may conclude that only chumps drive the speed limit, or pay all
their taxes, or obey drug laws.

Like many Canadians, I support legalization of marijuana.

Unlike more dangerous narcotics, evidence suggests it is generally
harmless if used in moderation.

As a practical matter, it's too easy to produce locally to be
successfully banned, wasting valuable police resources.

Now if we just had a federal government that would take action in a
serious, orderly way and restore confidence in the law.

Tom Fletcher is editor of the Maple Ridge News, a sister paper to
the Abbotsford News and member of the Black Press B.C. News Group