DON'T BOGART THOSE POLICE DOLLARS

Decriminalizing Marijuana Will Free Up Resources To Fight Real Crime, Says
Crime Analyst

The current debate on the decriminalization of possessing marijuana has
tended to focus on whether the drug is medically harmful or may lead users
from cannabis products to harder drugs.

It also has focused on the "message" that decriminalization would send our
youth.

Relatively little attention, however, has been paid to the grittier
financial question of whether all our current focus on a relatively mild
drug makes sense when Canada's policing, prosecutorial, and judicial
resources have bigger fish to fry.

Statistics show that over the past decade, 20,000 to 30,000 charges are
laid every year for simple cannabis possession. These constitute about half
of all drug-related offenses recorded in Canada. Compare those statistics
to the number of charges relating to white-collar and environmental crime
and you will see a huge difference. We live in a country where minor pot
cases are pursued with diligence, while white-collar-crime divisions of
many major police forces must turn away cases involving theft of less than
$250,000 because the forces do not have the resources to pursue them. At
the same time, our environmental law enforcement structure, split across
federal and provincial jurisdictions, is chronically underfunded and
understaffed. What message does that send?

The message seems to be that Canadian law enforcers do what is easy. And
that's not good. White collar and environmental crimes have enormous
political, economic and health consequences for this country.

The public holds a persistent perception that white-collar crimes --
essentially the crimes of the powerful -- go unpunished, and this
undermines faith in government. Many environmental crimes have insidious
impacts on the health of individuals and their surrounding environment for
generations. Yet these crimes receive relatively little attention, money
and resources because they are complex areas involving multiple
jurisdictions and powerful interests. In contrast to white-collar and
environmental criminals, pot smokers are easy targets.

Imagine what could be accomplished if the considerable policing,
prosecutorial and judicial resources currently tied up in cannabis-related
charges were directed toward white-collar and environmental crime.

What is the value of hundreds of pot possession convictions compared to a
single successful investigation and prosecution of a major white-collar
crime that has an impact on the value of shares held by pension funds or
the capture and containment of a significant environmental criminal?

As to those who express concerns regarding organized crime, if the
government really wanted to push the criminal element out of the cannabis
equation, it would also decriminalize minor cultivation of cannabis --
something the proposed legislation has chosen not to do. To remove the
stigma of criminal prosecution for minor cultivation would remove the
necessity for casual marijuana consumers to interact with the criminal
world, thus reducing demand for supply from this group.

This would also reduce the opportunity for cannabis to act as a gateway
drug to harder illicit drugs, since fewer people will be interacting with
the criminals who supply those far more harmful substances.

An added benefit of decriminalizing minor cultivation would be the removal
of these casual consumers and cultivators from the seriously violent
climate surrounding harder illicit drugs.

This drug-related violence has always justified the significant police
attention directed toward those producing, distributing, dealing and
consuming substances such as cocaine, heroin and the high potency cannabis
produced by large-scale hydroponic growth operations.

The decriminalization of minor cannabis possession and cultivation would
have a very fortunate equalization effect as well. At the moment, the laws
against cannabis possession and cultivation are enforced in very different
ways, depending on where you live in the country.

Cannabis use in Vancouver and other parts of British Columbia is much
higher than in the rest of the country. Yet the official attitude toward it
is ambivalent -- simple possession, in an increasing number of cases, no
longer results in charges being laid. Police admit that if they were even
to begin to try processing simple possession charges there, the volume
would be so significant the system would not be able to handle it.

Beyond provincial differences, there also are differences in enforcement
between rural and urban settings, and even different enforcement between
neighbourhoods within a particular city. University students engaging in a
youthful indiscretion on campus are much less likely to be confronted by
the police -- and much less likely to endure the criminal record that may
follow -- than individuals of similar age engaged in similar activities in
the less privileged wider urban environment.

The opponents of decriminalization are right to ask about the message that
decriminalization of cannabis possession will send to the youth of this
country. The message is that we are finally starting the process of getting
our policing and prosecution priorities straight.

Unfortunately, until such time as the government finds the courage to also
take the next logical step of decriminalizing small-scale cannabis
cultivation, Canadians will not see the full benefits of the
decriminalization process.