IT'S CHEECH & CHONG POLITICS

And so the Continuing Adventures Of Pedro De Pacas and Man carry on.

With the announcement this week that the federal government will
decriminalize marijuana, I couldn't help but chuckle at the once-fading
memory of Cheech and Chong's Big Bambu.

On the album - a staple of any 12-year-old boy's collection in 1974 - one
could hear Sister Mary Elephant addressing her class and an anti-pot
rebuttal from Speaker Ashley Roachclip, plus Pedro and Man run out of gas
despite the fact he "put 59> in two days ago."

While chatting with people in the community about the impending
decriminalization, one comment brought the album back to the forefront for me.

The conversation topic was of the proposed maximum allowable "stash" of 30
grams [1.06 ounces], as set out by Ottawa.

"That's a s*load of dope," said one suit-wearing, educated member of this
community.

While it was an astute comment, it was far more reminiscent of the 1970s
Cheech and Chong comedy album. It sounded exactly like something Bob said
in Let's Make a Dope Deal.

Big Bambu aside, I agree with that man and those who suggest that this bill
to decriminalize marijuana is a disaster in waiting.

As it was pointed out by one source in the news story that starts on Page
1, a lot of people have been arrested for trafficking with less than this
proposed allowable limit of an ounce.

I agree with the notion that five grams is personal. An ounce of pot,
whether rolled into joints or not, is far more pot than any smoker needs to
carry around. It's like a vodka drinker bringing a case of Smirnoff and a
truckload of orange juice to a social gathering for his personal consumption.

Lawyers are going to have a field day with this. It will never be clear
whether the amount the dealer is carrying was for sale or not.

In fact, dealers will change the way they do business by carrying joints
only and less that the 30-gram max. That way they can always claim it is
for personal use and any fine would become a cost of doing business.

Plus, the legislation will allow the growing and harvesting of pot, again
up to 30 grams, for personal use. How does one measure that? The new
legislation, in its current form, will increase the social problems that
arise out of drug use without recouping enough revenue to address them.
Sure there will be fines but they will hardly cover the costs of policing.

I agree that giving students criminal records because they got caught with
a couple of joints is ridiculous. I also agree that society is losing the
war on drugs. But this bill, in economic terms, will cost society as a whole.

It would have been better to have legalized it, taxed it and financed
agencies dealing the small percentage of people that will abuse any
privilege. That may also have taken business away from organized crime.

That said, Cheech and Chong would have loved this. Of course, the issue of
decriminalizing pot these days is far more serious because, well, today's
pot is far more potent - or so I've heard.

All this politics, in addition to the Christmas rush, has been quite
stressful. What I could really use is a couple of cocktails. Back up the
personal truck. And bring a rented copy of Up In Smoke.