SMALL-TIME POT BUSTS ARE BACK

One of the hazards of the hesitant, study-it-to-death approach that
characterized recent federal Liberal governments is that the clock can
run out before you get to doing what you wanted to accomplish.

That criticism for foot-dragging could be levelled in the case of
updating old equipment for Canada's armed forces.

Long after the Grits had replaced Brian Mulroney's budget fiascos with
yearly surpluses, springtime announcements would be made about
procuring such things as new helicopters, so the notorious and deadly
Sea Kings could be scrapped once and for all. By the time Paul Martin
was clearing out of 24 Sussex Drive, such purchases still hadn't been
executed.

The same claim can be made about doing away with criminal penalties
for anyone caught possessing small amounts of marijuana.

By late 2002 the Liberals, having fanned public discussions about
decriminalizing pot, released a "special House of Commons report"
recommending criminal charges no longer apply over the use, or the
cultivation for personal use, of marijuana.

Canadians were told legislation would be coming in three or four
months.

Again, even though the bill had the support of every party except the
Tories, it went nowhere while the Liberals had the ability to deliver.
First they lost their parliamentary majority and then, by 2006, lost
power altogether. Today, under the present law-and-order Conservative
government, there is no prospect of personal use marijuana offences
being decriminalized.

In many parts of Canada, there is a surge in the number of people
being arrested for smoking pot. This preoccupation over a lifestyle
misdemeanour sucks police time and bogs down a court system that
already struggles to keep up with the real priorities of Canadians:
dealing with such dangerous crimes as violent assaults or theft.

Opponents of decriminalizing marijuana are apt to distort the proposal
as some sinister step toward legalizing the use of drugs. In truth,
taking small-time pot use out of the Criminal Code and treating it as
a lesser offence, still subject to the law, recognizes that marijuana
has been cited as less addictive than the very legal substances of
alcohol or tobacco.

For years, politicians of all brands have called for an approach less
alarmist and more rational. A 2002 Senate committee led by Tory
Senator Pierre-Claude Nolin actually went beyond decriminalization and
suggested making it legal.

Criminally prosecuting personal marijuana use is the wrong priority
for law enforcement resources and leaves a stigma that is out of touch
with reality.

Thousands of Canadians, especially young people, end up with criminal
records for what is a minor offence. Their real sentence is a lifetime
of being senselessly disqualified for certain jobs or encountering
difficulty in crossing international borders.

Statistics Canada figures marijuana has been used by an estimated
three million Canadians.

Are they all criminals? Surely not.