MARIJUANA LAW REFORM

THE Chretien government yesterday introduced a bill to fine, rather than to
convict, run-of-the mill marijuana smokers and to increase penalties for
those found with large-scale grow operations.

Increasingly, Canadians believe that pot smoking for pleasure is not a
crime. This proposed law edges cautiously toward that view. The
overwhelming evidence is that pot is no more harmful physiologically than
alcohol.

The country will soon see the impact that decriminalizing simple possession
has on use and abuse.

Experience should eventually help make the case for legalizing pot.

The weakness of the bill and of the choice to decriminalize rather than
legalize is obvious.

It will continue to sustain the black market and all the resulting contacts
that occasional smokers have to make with underworld gangs. Justice
Minister Martin Cauchon vowed to clamp down on this with stronger
enforcement both at the border and in residential neighbourhoods where
hydroponic grow operations are springing up.

Simple possession will likely put more money into the government's coffers.
Issuing offence notices keeps people out of court, so those costs are
saved. Police currently opt to issue warnings, rather than a summons to
appear in court, in about half of simple possession cases.

With a ticket and a fine -- anywhere from $100 to $400 -- those who were
previously warned will now pay.

Ottawa plans to put $245 million over five years towards addiction
treatment, education of young people and increased enforcement. It plans to
sponsor conferences every two years to figure out what the research is
saying about the trends on drug use and what new projects should be
sponsored. This sounds like a deep dark hole since committees set up to
spend money will surely justify spending more to prove there's a problem.
The majority of the people using pot are not addicts.

They lead normal lives while using marijuana occasionally for pleasure.

Mr. Cauchon's own background notes, in justifying keeping marijuana
illegal, speak to the harm that might come from heavy use, while adding
that pregnant women and those with schizophrenia should not smoke pot. The
case for keeping pot illegal, however, rests mainly upon the work of the
pushers and dealers connected to street gangs.

The fines and prison terms for large-scale growing of marijuana increase.

If marijuana were legal, adults could buy it at a licensed outlet and with
some assurance of its quality.

The government has shied away from taking the big step to legalizing
marijuana. Not all Canadians see the merits of legalization. Likely more
important is the fact the American administration is adamantly opposed to
any such talk. Yet surveys reveal that increasingly Canadians, by their own
occasional use of pot, do not believe pot smoking leads to hard-drug use or
that it will make them sick or fry their brain.

This new law, recognizing the political sensitivity of legalizing pot, will
in time reveal that no harm comes of easing up on sanctions against pot
use. This may encourage the U.S. authorities along a similar path and
embolden a future government to let Canadian adults make their own choices
about marijuana use.