POT IS HARMFUL ERGO ILLEGAL

On Tuesday the Liberal government finally introduced Bill C-38, the
Marijuana Bill, after a week of internal haggling.

The government seeks to decriminalize possession of "small" amounts of
cannabis (less than 15 grams - the equivalent of 25 joints!), reducing the
penalty from a criminal conviction to a small fine.

The Liberals claim that these measures are all part of a National Drug
Strategy, intended "to reduce both the supply of and the demand for drugs."

How decriminalization can be part of a "strategy" to reduce drug abuse in
this country is beyond me.

Decriminalizing marijuana in our already permissive social climate only
provides a weaker deterrent to smoking pot; cannabis use can only increase
as a result.

The Liberals have yet to start educating the public, particularly youth, on
the harms of smoking marijuana.

They have yet to give front line personnel, such as police forces and
health care workers, the resources they need to deal with the consequences
of increased drug use.

Plus, the Liberals have not considered the ramifications of
decriminalization of marijuana and its impact on already strained Canadian
- -- American relations.

Driving under the influence of alcohol is severely punishable by law,
however there is no test with which to measure the intoxication level of a
person driving "stoned."

A drug "strategy" which begins with sanctioning drug use without any other
concrete plan is not an effective way to reduce drug abuse and its
associated social ills.

According to the Canadian Police association the use of marijuana can lead
to the use of harder drugs.

Some argue that marijuana isn't really dangerous and therefore shouldn't be
criminal.

Today's marijuana is much more potent than it was in the 60s and 70s when
many of the studies that legalization advocates cite were conducted.

THC (the intoxicating substance in marijuana) levels in the sixties were at
about 1-5%; modern tests show that potency has increased to 30%.

Marijuana also contains higher levels of carcinogens than tobacco.

While Ottawa is busy pursuing Big Tobacco over the increase of health care
costs due to smoke-related diseases, they are opening the door to a much
more powerful killer.

When death rates due to marijuana-related diseases jump, they will have
only themselves to blame.

Some have also suggested that the current law governing marijuana doesn't
reflect our social realty, that since so many Canadians smoke marijuana or
view it permissively, our current laws are hypocritical.

The reality is that marijuana is harmful and therefore illegal.

The growing permissiveness toward marijuana use puts our children at risk.

If they don't know that pot is harmful, and if we begin to tolerate its
use, our kids may very well become depressed, develop lung cancer, or God
forbid, die in marijuana-related motor vehicle accidents.

We need to educate our youth on the risks of drug use; simply ensuring they
aren't too severely punished for the mistakes they may make is not enough.

I'd like to encourage you to discuss this with your children, see what they
think, see what they know, and make sure that they are well informed. Often
knowledge is the best defense.

I will be voting against Bill C-38.