ON DOPE

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. The current pot
prohibition is a mess, with enormous police and court resources resulting
in inconsistent sentencing and 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 it's tough to find a convenience store that's been held
up by a shivering pot junkie for its chocolate bars and chips.

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 has repeatedly pointed out
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 much-predicted gun registry disaster, the answer
appears to be no.

The timing of decriminalization 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 "lock 'em up" prison policies, but right now Ottawa
needs to regain credibility on border security issues, not invite more
suspicion and searches of southbound vehicles.

The other pending federal initiative is the approval of "safe injection
sites" or "safe consumption sites" or whatever this week's Orwellian media
term is. An illegal one has sprung up in Vancouver, where addicts can relax
and sip coffee before shooting up in nurse-supervised comfort. City media
assures us this is a great idea, very progressive, while a recent police
push against heroin and crack dealers is causing great suffering. Cheers of
honest citizens in the downtown east side at the brief relief from streets
run by drug dealers go mostly unreported.

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.

Committed heroin and cocaine addicts, and the dealers they support, will
approve of Liberal policy.