COMMON SENSE

In the current election campaign, the only party that has a clear and
comprehensible position on the question of marijuana is the Marijuana
party. It has no hope of forming a government. It has scant hope of
electing a single candidate. Most single-issue parties have no such
hope. The Canadian voter is a more complex creature than that.

Nevertheless, the party does address an issue of some importance with
some clarity. It would legalize the use, the sale, the possession of
marijuana, whether it be for recreational or medical purposes, by
consenting adults.

The two parties that have some hope being elected to government -- the
Liberals and the Conservatives -- have policies that might appear to
be different but do not diverge much. The Liberals pay lip service to
the ideas of allowing medical use of marijuana and decriminalizing
simple possession, but have done nothing to implement them and do not
seem likely to in a future government. The Conservatives are opposed
to easing the marijuana law and are committed, if elected, to revoking
the laws that Liberals have not yet passed.

Into the middle of this queer debate steps the Fraser Institute, a
conservative think-tank. The institute suggests a course that actually
has the merit of common sense. Marijuana use cannot be stopped; it
continues to grow as the fears of the consequences of its use
decrease. Governments, says the Fraser Institute, should recognize
that, legalize it and tax it. That would usefully add to the coffers
of government by the tune of $2 billion annually and spare thousands
of Canadians criminal records. How is it that only a conservative
think-tank and a hazy political party can see the merits of this?