DECRIMINALIZATION UP IN SMOKE?

Decriminalization of marijuana will not happen in our lifetime. Not
at this rate.

Liberal Senator Larry Campbell restated his preference this week to
regulate and control pot just as alcohol production and distribution
is governed.

Then "tax the hell out of it," Campbell urges, with revenues rolled
into underfunded priorities like health care.

Too much is spent on enforcement and justice with too little gained,
he rightly said, although many people would agree it would be a waste
of time trying to control something people can grow in their backyards.

Debate was sparked this week when the United Nations reported there
are more Canadian tokers now than ever before, as far as its 2007
study on worldwide drug use is concerned.

Among developed nations, our citizens apparently rank highest when it
comes to telling pollsters they smoked marijuana in 2004. The 16.8
per cent who admitted breaking the law beat out the Americans by more
than four percentage points, and easily outpaced residents of
Britain, France and Germany.

Of course, that was the year Canadians thought Paul Martin was
serious when he started pushing through the Grit decriminalization law.

The legislation soon died on the vine and it's highly unlikely Prime
Minister Stephen Harper will lead a Conservative charge to make
getting stoned any easier.

In fact, police charges for marijuana possession jumped 20 per cent
since the Grit law went up in smoke.

And Harper's people have let it be known they're capable of adopting
American approaches.

The marijuana issue, don't forget, acts as a poker chip in a larger
political gambit.

And let's face it, the Harper government hasn't won a lot of its
hands with George W. Bush in power. Bickering over resources,
philosophical differences about security and the meagre availability
of our military somehow gets in the way.

Only our bravery in Afghanistan impresses our southerly neighbours.
But the war on drugs is something Harper can embrace full throttle,
one of those win-win situations if one wants to impress a trading
partner while serving his party and constituents.

Think of it as Harper's way to keep our kids at home, the youth
outmigration problem solved by giving a higher percentage of its
citizens criminal records.