FEAR OF THE NDP DRIVES GRITS TO POT LAW

If you're trying to figure out why the Liberals seem so hell-fired
determined to push ahead with the pot bill despite all the criticism from
both anti- and pro-marijuana lobbies, look to the results of the
Perth-Middlesex byelection last week.

The Liberals lost, not because the Conservatives and Alliance split the
right-of-centre vote, but because the New Democrats and Liberals split the
left-of-centre vote.

The NDP had an additional 9% of the popular vote, gaining it all from the
Liberals, who lost 10% of the popular vote, enough to lose the riding.

Loosing the left-wing vote is the worst fear of Liberal strategists.

New NDP Leader Jack Layton, a former Toronto city councillor who is already
well known and relatively popular in the Toronto area, especially with
lefties, is having an impact in polling throughout southern Ontario.

The Liberals have much to fear from a redistribution of socialists and
left-leaning Liberals, hence the rush to get on with decriminalizing pot.

It's not nearly as daring as the New Democrat proposal to outright legalize
marijuana, but it moves the Liberals out of the status quo and into the pot
activist camp, and typifies the rush under way to shore up the party's
left-wing support.

The fact the ill-conceived legislation in its current format pleases no
one, is of little concern.

Fixes such as the last-minute addition of funding for an advertising
campaign against the health hazards of pot smoking will gladly be tacked
onto the hastily prepared bill.

Legitimate police complaints that police forces across the country haven't
been given the technology to deal with drug-impaired driving will be taken
care of in the amendment stages.

Worries by medicinal pot advocates that the current proposal does little to
address their concerns will be thrown into the bill in the committee stage.

The point was to get the bill on the docket and do it now, on time for
passage later this year.

Leftist activists still not satisfied with lighter sentences will be
quietly assured that this is merely a first step on the road to eventual
legalization -- and the more than 500,000 Canadians who have outstanding
criminal records for previous marijuana possession charges will be told
amnesty is on the way if they vote Liberal.

The politics of pot are the politics of shoring up the Grit left flank.

It has nothing to do with deep-seated concerns that young people are being
saddled with criminal records by existing laws; it has everything to do
with protecting party standing with youth voters and fending off the NDP.

Kids aren't being charged under the current marijuana laws.

Sure they're being hassled, even warned of future criminal charges if
caught in possession of personal amounts, but only in the most extreme of
circumstances is a possession charge currently being laid.

In fact, police point out that with decriminalization it is more likely
that charges will be laid if an individual is found in possession of small
amounts for personal use.

And while the government claims it will strengthen the ability of police to
track down and prosecute large commercial pot growing operations, police
themselves point out smaller, more-difficult-to-discover operations can be
expected to grow like weeds, literally.

Virtually nothing good can be said about the pot bill as it exists now, but
who would expect anything more from a document hastily hammered out for
purely political purposes?

It is ad lib lawmaking -- governed entirely by pollsters and admen, and in
this case enough potheads to make a difference in close ridings where a
resurgence of the NDP would be a disaster for the Liberals.