COMMON WEED, COMMON USE

The numbers don't paint a clear picture of marijuana use in this
country, but they're enough to make people sit up and take notice at
least.

The UN's 2007 World Drug Report found 16.8 per cent of Canadians
between the ages of 15 and 64 used pot in 2004 aE" the highest rate
among developed nations. By comparison, 12.6 per cent of American
respondents said they have tried pot. Britain (8.7), France (8.6),
Germany (6.9), and especially Japan (0.1) all reported much lower
rates than Canada.

The stats don't tell us how many of those who admitted using pot use
it regularly, occasionally or just rarely. But it does suggest that
Canadians are relatively open about acknowledging the substance as
relatively common and not the stuff of back alleys.

News of the higher-than-average use has people again talking about
the relative illegality.

Senator Larry Campbell says too much time and effort is being wasted
with criminal prosecutions for minor amounts of the drug while
organized crime reaps massive profits from the drug's cultivation.
Treat it like alcohol with production controlled and sales regulated,
the senator said, and "tax the hell out of it."

In contrast to an apparently increasing acceptance are numbers
speaking of arrests. They went down a couple of years ago when the
Liberals introduced a bill to decriminalize small amounts. The
Tories, when they came to power, scrapped the proposed legislation
and following that arrests for possession again spiked.

People might well ask whether said arrests are saving people from
themselves or just sapping police energies that could be used better
elsewhere.This is somewhat less an age issue than at one time, since
about 50 per cent of people who toke are over the age of 30. But, no
surprise, it's often the younger people who get caught.

Any changes might need to happen in baby steps, but it's long overdue
that possessing small amounts not be dealt with as a criminal act.