DECRIMINALIZING POT IS A STONED BRAINER

When the federal government passes legislation decriminalizing marijuana, as
it's expected to do this week, don't expect anybody in the Kootenays, or
anywhere else in B.C., to stand up and cheer Ottawa for its progressive,
free thinking ways.

While we're all happy to hear the government will no longer be going after
criminal convictions for possessing under 15 grams of the demon weed (now
you'll only get nailed with a $150 fine for possession), we also realize
that for most pot smoking B.C.ers, decriminalizing our most precious
underground export won't make a scrap of difference to how much, or how
often, they like to toke up.

In other words, Ottawa's decision is really a non-event, because the threat
of a criminal conviction didn't deter pot smoking anyway. To actually pursue
a conviction in court has proved to be quite difficult. Most cases are
tossed out way before a charge leads to a criminal record.

Of course, that hasn't stopped millions of dollars every year being pumped
into the legal system to go through the motions, not to mention the time
judges and lawyers have wasted arguing such cases.

The time and money that has been spent on pot-related crime (an estimated 70
per cent of all drug crime in Canada) should be directed to more worthwhile
activities, such as seizing labs that produce dangerous drugs like Crystal
Meth, ecstasy, and GHB, or going after large international crime syndicates
that import and distribute cocaine, a far more destructive drug than
marijuana.

Unfortunately, however, that's unlikely to happen, because even with pot
decriminalized, police won't ease up on their efforts to find and eradicate
marijuana grow operations. The penalties for trafficking large amounts of
pot will remain harsh, and may get even tougher, because the Canadian
government will want to reassure the United States that we're not going soft
on drugs.

Ottawa's message regarding marijuana, then, comes out a bit garbled. The
government seems to be saying it's okay to smoke pot, just don't try to sell
it. Thanks, but we already knew that.