SMOKE AND SPIN

Let's hope Prime Minister Paul Martin follows through with the Liberal
commitment to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana in the coming
session of Parliament.

If the Chretien government had enacted its promised legislation in 2003
instead of delaying action for fear of U.S. disapproval, Vancouver and
other municipalities would likely have worked out its civic reaction and
control of "pot cafes" by now.

That, we say, would have been a good thing. We have argued for many years
now that Canada's pot laws are out of touch with reality and that the
continued prohibition of the drug only increases the financial wealth of
organized crime. Polls suggest a majority of Canadians take this view.

We're not advocating pot for every chicken here; access to the drug needs
to be controlled in a similar fashion to alcohol but with much heavier
penalties for selling to minors.

And despite our political sympathies, we do not condone the recent
law-breaking at Da Kine Smoke and Beverage Shop on Commercial Drive in
Vancouver. Blatantly advertised law-breaking may put pressure on
politicians, but it puts police in an impossible situation. In fact, the
shop's owner and her patrons can consider themselves lucky that municipal
tolerance doubtless contributed to the watch and wait approach of the
Vancouver Police Department until Solicitor General Rich Coleman got
critical. Comments about "the thuggery of the police gang" after last
week's arrests may play well to the store's pot smokers, but that
inflammatory approach won't help in the wider political arena.