HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA?

MPs on the Justice Committee speak out about their smoking habits, or lack
thereof; they'll be studying C-38 this fall, the government's bill to
decriminalize pot.

Alliance MP Garry Breitkreuz Yorkton-Melville, Sask.

HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA?

No.

Do you support Bill C-38

The bill in my mind is a dangerous way to proceed. We have not done the
research that we should have done before we brought this forward. There are
warning signals coming from certain sectors of society indicating that this
is not a good way to go and we need to investigate those properly before we
go down this road. So, my very strong feeling is that it is premature to do
this.

Alliance MP Chuck Cadman Surrey North, B.C.

HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA?

I am on record, yes, in [the] 60s. It's part of my past, that's fine.
Probably three quarters of my generation was doing it.

Do you support Bill C-38?

My basic concern is the message that it sends to kids by decriminalizing
marijuana. The message that's been sent to our young people is completely
confusing. On one hand, we are telling them to stay away from drugs and on
the other hand we decriminalize the most common drug they use.

Liberal MP Pat O'Brien London-Fanshawe, Ont.

HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA?

I think probably once or twice in university, I was probably handed
something, it was marijuana, yeah. Yes [I have tried it] but I prefer cold
beer.

Do you support Bill C-38

I have very serious concerns about it. Major concern would be the amount of
marijuana that a person can have in their possession. There was talk of 30
grams, now I think they are proposing to lower that to 15 grams. I want to
hear more expert evidence about that. It's possible that 15 grams might be
too high, I don't know that. These are the kinds of questions I want to ask
at the committee when we get into these hearings. I have some very serious
concerns about the potential fall out of that legislation for young people.

Alliance MP Kevin Sorenson Crowfoot, Alta.

HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA?

No, I have not tried it because it's illegal and a Member of Parliament
should try not to get involved in an illegal activity.

Do you support Bill C-38?

Obviously, we are very disappointed with it. We warned through the [Special
Committee on the Non-Medical use of Drugs] that any major movement to
decriminalize marijuana needed to be done after a number of measures were
put in place. Those measures have not been put in place. The other thing we
said all along is that if we are talking decriminalization of marijuana, it
needs to be five grams or less. We think that the government again missed
the mark here on the amount of marijuana they are allowing before the
criminal offence takes place.

Bloc MP Richard Marceau Charlesbourg-Jacques-Cartier, Que.

HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA?

The answer is no.

Do you support Bill C-38

First of all, we [the Bloc] are favorable to the decriminalization of
marijuana. We have some reservations about the bill. For example, this
prohibition to grow your own plants. So, if you decriminalize having the
marijuana, how can one guy who wants to smoke a joint or two is going to
get his marijuana if he cannot grow a small quantity of it. That's forcing
him to go to the black market. We don't think that's a good idea. Second,
we wonder why the recommendation of the committee that set the limit at 30
grams was not accepted and was lowered to 15 grams.

Tory MP Peter MacKay Pictou-Antigonish-Guysborough, N.S.

HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA?

The answer is no.

Do you support Bill C-38?

I am very concerned about the implications of decriminalizing/legalization
of marijuana. It is incumbent upon the federal government to implement
effective policies that protect our young people from the harmful effects
and irresponsible use of alcohol and drugs. I firmly believe there is a
strong connection between the use of marijuana and use of harder more
addictive drugs and crimes such as breaking and entering and impaired
driving. Neither legalization nor decreased criminal sanctions will fully
address the many complexities that society faces regarding marijuana.

There is currently a great deal of flexibility in the Criminal Code on what
penalties attach upon conviction. The police and courts already exercise
great discretion. To send people to jail for simple possession is not
happening. However, there must be the ability to send a message of
deterrence and denunciation.

Liberal MP Marlene Jennings Notre-Dame-de-Grbce-Lachine, Que.

HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA?

I think it's public knowledge [that I have smoked marijuana in the past].
It's not a secret to my constituents because I made a lot of jokes about
it, about inhaling contrary to [Bill] Clinton. The last time I smoked was
probably in 1972, that was a long time ago. I used drugs from the time I
was in the end of high school through [college] and into about the first
year of university.

Do you support Bill C-38

I honestly believe that at some point we are going to have to and we
actually should think about legalization. I do not, however, think that we
are at a stage where we can do it as a government or as a society because
in order to move to that level, it would require that we really got in
place our structures to help people who have problems, address the issue of
young people under the age of 18 and I don't think we are there yet. In
terms of decriminalization, I do think that it's a good idea.

Liberal MP John McKay Scarborough East, Ont.

HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA?

No, virgin nostrils. I thought it was a stupid idea in 70s, it hasn't
improved in the 80s and it has got really stupid in 90s and now it's
downright dangerous. It wasn't even a temptation.

Do you support Bill C-38?

You can't suffer abuse of the law, disrespect for the law by people having
small amounts of marijuana in their possession and not having the law
enforced. That's a recipe for eroding the rule of law and that's not a good
thing and if you erode the rule of law, a whole bunch of other things will
follow. On the other side of the equation, from the health standpoint, I
agree with Anne McLellan that there is no study in the world that shows
that marijuana has any medicinal benefits. Would you ever put any drug on
the market untested readily available from dealers on street corners and
say, "oh, well, this has got medicinal benefits." You'd be run out of town
and rightfully so. So, I don't buy the argument that this has medicinal
benefits, it may have psychological benefits. I appreciate that's not a
sound bite but on the other hand this is a little more complicated.

Liberal MP Hedy Fry Vancouver Centre, B.C.

HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA?

No. I suppose having been a medical student, I have always been very leery
of any thing that is a drug. I always think if somebody is going to get
addicted, it's bound to be me. It's just a risk. You take other risks but
that was one I never felt.

Do you support Bill C-38?

I was on the Special Committee of the Non-Medical use of Drugs so this
[bill C-38] is one of our recommendations. I am for it for a number of
reasons. I am for it if it is part of a comprehensive national drug
strategy. I don't believe decriminalization of cannabis should be a
separate sort of special little entity. What we want to do is to make sure
that we do two things: We go after the traffickers, we go after huge
illegal operations and we go after the international groups that are
trafficking in marijuana but people who have small amounts just like we do
with alcohol and we ticket them and we increase the penalties if they keep
doing it. The most important thing that we think we wanted to do was to
educate.

Liberal MP Derek Lee Scarborough-Rouge River, Ont.

HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED MARIJUANA?

I don't answer that because it doesn't help the...put it this way, I don't
smoke. I don't smoke, period. For me, it's not relevant. I have friends
who, I believe, on reasonable grounds, that they occasionally smoke marijuana.

Do you support Bill C-38

Keep in mind that I was a member of the Special Committee on the
Non-Medical use of Drugs. I am very pleased that the government has
accepted the views of the committee and is proceeding on this basis. I very
much support it. To me it's a manifestation of a very clear public policy
determination that we have to move drug issues from as much as we can from
the criminal law envelope to a health based envelope. I am very keen to see
C-38 adopted. [Although] it won't make a huge change but it will move us in
the right direction and it will be a signal to other countries that we have
to be rational and sophisticated in our approach to drug issues and we
should stop using our criminal courts and federal prosecutors to deal with
drugs that don't happen to be a serious health problem.