EDUCATION BEFORE DECRIMINALIZATION

It appears the federal government is spinning in circles when it comes to
deciding the direction of its own marijuana legislation.

The feds are considering fining small-time pot users as little as $100
under decriminalization laws it hopes to introduce in the House of Commons.
However, the Justice Department's most recent change -- that possession of
less than 15 grams of weed would net a person a fine equivalent to a
traffic violation -- comes a short time after the department looked
confident it was going another way. It indicated it would accept a
recommendation by a special House of Commons committee on illicit drugs,
which proposed criminal sanctions be lifted for less than 30 grams. But
that's old news now.

With all this scrambling around by the Liberals, it would be a safe bet to
say the party isn't ready to tackle this topic until it has more
information. And even by then, proposed legislation will likely sit on the
backburner if Paul Martin becomes Canada's next prime minister.

Health Minister Anne McLellan is in support of decriminalizing pot, but
only if a national drug strategy is set in place by the government.

Common sense, on the other hand, would tell us we need a drug strategy
before implementing a drug law that may have serious implications across
the country -- and even at the Canada-U.S. border.

If legislation is passed in Ottawa to decriminalize marijuana, it will be
apparent the U.S. government will make it more difficult for Canadians to
cross the border.

And who could blame the White House for issuing such a warning?

With the growing use of B.C. bud -- a stronger, more potent line of pot --
there's no doubt Canada should be on the radar of countries to keep an eye
on concerning drugs.

The federal government is telling us to ignore the fact that
decriminalizing marijuana could lead to wide-spread use, forget that pot
could more easily end up in school yards, forget that smoking marijuana
could lead to harder drugs, and that marijuana impairs a person much more
quickly than alcohol. After all, who cares about the consequences when it
comes to those sacred public opinion polls.

The truth of the matter is, if Canadians knew more about the drug and were
increasingly educated by the government about what marijuana could do to
this country, public opinion would no doubt be swayed the other way.

Unfortunately the federal government is doing nothing in terms of educating
our kids, and a national drug strategy won't even be out until
decriminalization laws are passed.