CANADIANS SHOULD 'JUST SAY NO TO THE AMERICAN INQUISITION'
ANALYST SAYS

If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms,
marijuana would be legal. Writing under the pen name Janey Canuck in
the early 1900s, Emily Murphy warned Canadians about the dread reefer
and its association with minorities. The sensationalist yellow
journalism of William Randolph Hearst led to marijuana's
criminalization in the United States. Almost 100 years later, Canada
leads the industrialized world in cannabis consumption.

Prohibition has been counterproductive at best. What started as a
racist reaction to immigration has morphed into a global culture war,
with Canada's southern neighbour leading the charge. The war on some
drug has given the (former) land of the free the highest incarceration
rate in the world, yet lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the U.S.
than any European country.

There is a good reason millions of people prefer marijuana to
martinis. Cannabis is easily the least harmful recreational drug,
legal or otherwise. Medical science tells us that jail cells are
inappropriate as health interventions. History shows they are
ineffective as deterrents. It's time for Canada to just say No to the
American Inquisition.

Robert Sharpe,

Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy,

Washington, D.C.