VOICES: DECRIMINALIZING POT

We asked you what you thought about the move afoot in the corridors of
federal parliament to decriminalize the use of marijuana for those
possessing less than 30 grams of the drug, as suggested by a parliamentary
committee. Here are some of your comments:

As an honest, productive, tax-paying citizen who is proud of being a
contributing member of my society, I have always been a bit piqued at
conservative attempts to portray marijuana smokers as criminals. All of the
people I know who smoke marijuana are respectable taxpayers who actively
contribute to the world around them. I've been smoking on and off for
almost 35 years and have paid taxes, done volunteer work, adopted
disadvantaged children through World Vision, given to charities and kept my
faith in God pretty much the entire time. -Desmond Donnelly, Toronto, Dec. 18

I think that decriminalization of marijuana could be good for tax dollars,
if they went so far as to completely legalize pot. If they don't at least
decriminalize pot then the Toronto Police will continue to bust citizens on
possession charges and waste time while they could be tracking down
rapists, murderers, etc. -Jason White, Toronto, Dec. 18

And while we're at it, let's legalize prostitution, and cocaine, and
heroin, and abortion. Oh yeah, we did that already, and pornography, and
sex tourism, and let's have more brilliant advice from the Senate... -Kevin
Topalian, Toronto, Dec. 18

Cannabis is a soft drug and shouldn't be looked down on in a way that
people think its evil and that it leads to harder drugs. Cannabis is also a
great way to expand the creativity of your mind and is a good way to
achieve relaxation and stress reduction. My name is Julian Miranda. I am 16
years old and I support the use of marijuana -Julian Miranda, Mississauga,
Dec. 18

It's about time someone sees the light. Measured against the amount of
people convicted for possession (600,000) over the years, can you imagine
the money and effort that dealt with it . -Attila Brontiu, Port Colbourne,
Dec. 18

I say yes to legalizing marijuana, but with laws and rules we could all
except. The laws for homebrewed beer could be used for homegrown pot. If
you take your beer or pot off the property, it is decriminalized but still
against the law. Bootlegging and trafficking are against the law and would
stay illegal. This would give us control of our own homes and homegrown,
and the law would still control the streets. -Ron McInnes, Orillia, Dec. 18

It's about time! This discussion is late in coming, but Canada is finally
realizing that it isn't the government's place to legislate what I poison
myself with, be it alcohol, cigarettes or marijuana. -Joel Balfour,
Toronto, Dec. 18

If decriminalized, pot needs to be treated exactly the same as alcohol is
today. For example, there needs to be a quick, easy and reliable way of
determining if someone is impaired by pot, just like today's roadside
breathalyzer. And that needs to be in place before decriminalization
occurs! -Steve Hornett, Kitchener, Dec. 18