OUR DRUG WAR IS RICH IN SILLINESS

The Issue

Marijuana

The Argument

Canada displays common sense

Our Canadian neighbors want to base marijuana laws on common sense, but
their proposals aren't winning any friends in Washington.

Border trade between our countries may be at risk as a result.

This week Canadian lawmakers introduced a measure that would decriminalize
possession of small amounts of marijuana, while increasing funds for
education on the risks of drug use. Those caught with 15 grams or less
would be cited and fined but would not have a criminal record. That amount
is equal to about half an ounce.

The proposal has broad support, and is praised for directing precious law
enforcement resources toward more dangerous crime.

As reported this week by the Associated Press, two Parliament committees
recommend easing marijuana laws, as does Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
Ontario courts have declared federal possession laws invalid and Canada's
Supreme Court is considering a constitutional challenge to possession laws.

A majority of Canadians supports decriminalization, and this latest
proposed change is welcomed by the Canadian Medical Association and
Canadian Bar Association.

That support is not reflected south of the border, where the U.S.
government would rather spend more than $40 billion per year fighting a
prohibition-style drug war that has little impact on usage.

And consider this illustration of anti-marijuana paranoia in the Bush
administration. John Walters, director of the U.S. Office of National Drug
Control Policy, warns that Canada's proposals will increase the flow of
marijuana into the United States, and that U.S. border security may have to
tighten as a result.

Think about that for a moment: Walters is making veiled threats against the
largest trading partnership in the world -- trade worth $1 billion per day
- -- because Canada might remove criminal penalties for those carrying half
an ounce of marijuana.

What nonsense.

But that's the kind of thinking that dominates U.S. drug policy. While
Canada moves toward common sense penalties for small amounts of marijuana,
Washington continues down a hard-nosed, fruitless path that wastes billions
of dollars every year.