RETHINK DECRIMINALIZATION

Meadow Lake Progress - Statistics Canada recently reported that drug
charges are up all over the country, with the most offences being in
possession of marijuana.

The federal government is planning to decriminalize marijuana by making it
a ticket offence rather than a Criminal Code matter. However these latest
statistics should hopefully raise some eyebrows. With a 42 per cent rise
nationally and 97 per cent in Saskatchewan alone since the 1990s it makes
one wonder whether the issue was always there or if it's just coming to the
forefront.

Some lawmakers are saying it's becoming more common to have possession
charges because people are being acclimatized by the nature of discussions
around marijuana.

These are disturbing trends, especially when you consider that at the
moment there really are no tests to determine how intoxicated a person is
from drugs. That has major implications in other areas such as driving,
where drivers can be charged with impaired driving even for being under the
influence of drugs. The government is looking at new legislation to help
law enforcement officers combat this issue, but the completion of research
being done by the European Union could be as far as two years away.

There are deeper issues when lawmakers start talking about lessening
penalties for drugs than whether or not law enforcement officers have less
paperwork or fewer court appearances. Not enough research or studying has
gone into the after effects. The Justice Minister needs to re-examine the
decriminalization of marijuana and study more facts before moving ahead.