OTTAWA ON DRUGS

The federal government is on the verge of two major changes in national
policy on illegal drugs. One is the decriminalization of simple possession
of marijuana.

The marijuana proposal is a good policy with bad execution. This space has
argued for years that the current pot prohibition is a mess, with enormous
police and court resources resulting in inconsistent sentencing and the
flourishing of organized crime. It's easier to grow the stuff than to make
bathtub gin, medical evidence of harm is sparse at best, and pot users
don't hold up gas stations.

The Chretien government's proposal is to make possession of 30 grams or
less a ticket offence, in hopes of taking big players out of the trade.
Canadian Alliance justice critic Randy White points out that this is more
than an ounce, and would allow any small-time dealer to pack dozens of
joints down to the local schoolyard with no risk of a criminal charge. This
is going to be a disaster, but does any Liberal MP have the sense to admit
it? As with the gun registry disaster, the answer appears to be no.

The timing is brutal as well, another sharp stick in the eye of our
American cousins. This is not to defend their aggressive "war on drugs" and
prison policies, but right now Ottawa needs to regain credibility on border
security issues, not invite more suspicion and searches.

The other plan is the approval of "safe injection sites" or "safe
consumption sites" or whatever this week's Orwellian media term may be. An
illegal one has sprung up in Vancouver, where addicts can relax and sip
coffee before shooting up in nurse-supervised comfort. Honest citizens
wonder how making the most deadly habits comfortable while failing to
provide adequate detox and treatment programs is any solution. Successful
recovering addicts and front-line police tend to agree. Enabling addiction
makes it worse, not better.