STIRRING THE POT

Pardon the cliche, but it's high-time the federal government resolved the
marijuana issue that seems to be clouding the horizon in Vancouver.

For more than 80 years the government has kept the policy of prohibition on
the books, forcing one of the most controversial plants known to man into
hiding.

Vancouver, and B.C. for that matter, is world renowned for its production
of the illegal plant. We also happen to be world renowned for our lax
policies on enforcement. The Da Kine Smoke and Beverage shop has been
plastered all over the front pages of the Vancouver dailies as it openly
flaunts the law, selling small quantities to those who make their way to
Commercial Drive. Residential homes in the suburbs are quickly transforming
themselves from quiet neighbourhoods into small-scale marijuana factories.

And despite the best efforts of the police and the courts, little has been
accomplished in the "war on drugs."

That's not entirely true. The government has managed to spend billions in
its efforts to slow the production and distribution. They have also created
one of the most lucrative, illegal, highly accessible cash-crops for
criminal organizations to tap into. And they have missed out on billions of
tax revenue, a source of income so desperately sought after by governments
desperate to raise new revenue.

There is a simple reason for the failure in the drug war - prohibition
doesn't work. And what's worse, policies built around them are destined to
fail, because there will always be a market for the product. If after
80-plus years of fighting to keep marijuana illegal and this is the best we
can do, I suggest it's time to look in another direction. The federal
government's sponsorship program accomplished more than our current
policies on marijuana.

According to Statistics Canada, more than 10 million Canadians have tried
marijuana at least once. In 2001, 49,639 people were arrested for
marijuana-related crimes. In the same year, the U.S. reported 734,498 pot
arrests. More than 600,000 Canadians have a record for possession.

In Canada less than one per cent of the nation's marijuana users are caught
by police - and half are released with a warning.

Report after report by the federal government has called for the end of the
prohibition era. It began in 1972 with the LeDain Commission. Most
recently, the Senate committee on Illegal Drugs spent two years researching
the issue. It goes so far as to recommend the legalization of marijuana.
The committee reported the current policies should be replaced by a
regulated system that focuses on illegal trafficking, prevention programs
and respecting individual and collective freedoms.

"In our opinion, Canadian society is ready for a responsible policy of
cannabis regulation that complies with these basic strategies," the report
states.

It goes on to say what advocates have been conveying for years, that
"scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is
substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated not as a
criminal issue, but as a social and health issue."

Advocates for the current system claim this is open-door policy for drug
pushers, resulting in spikes in consumption.

Nonsense. With the current system in place, there are plenty of people
ready to take a minimal risk and start their own garden right in your
neighbourhood.