LISTLESS CONFUSION

Constant exposure to marijuana tends to make people listless and confused.
It would appear that the same might be said about the effect on the federal
government as a result of constant exposure to marijuana issues.

More evidence of this link surfaced yesterday in Ontario, where a judge
threw out a charge against a teenager after ruling that there effectively
exists no prohibition against the possession of marijuana. Justice Douglas
Phillips noted that in July 2000, the Ontario Court of Appeal found invalid
prohibitions against possession of marijuana contained in the Controlled
Drugs and Substances Act. It gave Ottawa 12 months to amend the act so as
to remove an absurdity --to wit, it is not illegal to possess marijuana for
medical purposes but it is illegal to obtain it. Ottawa's response was to
change by cabinet order regulations within the act, rather than the act
itself. Justice Douglas found that the regulatory changes failed to meet
the requirements of the Appeal Court order, which meant that no prohibition
exists in Ontario, and has not existed since July 2001, when the 12-month
deadline expired.

Why Ottawa decided to change regulations rather than the law is anybody's
guess. But no doubt the fact that doing so allowed the government to avoid
wrestling with the issue publicly in Parliament played a role in the
decision to confuse the issue. Confusion, in fact, increasingly seems a
hallmark of this government, especially on marijuana.

First, the government insisted on enforcing pot laws against persons who
used it for medical purposes. Then it approved such uses and launched a $6
million program to grow medical pot in a Flin Flon mine shaft. Then it
backtracked, fretting about whether pot's efficacy as medicine has been
sufficiently studied while also fretting about the seeming conflict between
its effort to stamp out the legal use of tobacco for health reasons and its
promotion of smoking pot, also for health reasons.

When the Senate recommended legalization, it dithered, allowing cases
before the Supreme Court to go forward. When another committee recommended
decriminalization, it embraced the idea, with the result the Supreme Court
suspended its deliberations, leaving the legal issues in limbo.

Meanwhile, persons with permission to use medical marijuana are being
jailed for possession in Alberta while the courts in Quebec are dismissing
such charges as violations of Charter rights. What Canadians need from this
government is less smoke and more clear-headed resolve to create laws that
work.