DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA NOW

Despite jokes about politicians and pot heads, the parliamentary
committee that recommended changes to Canada's drug laws has offered
advice that has to be treated seriously. The committee, which released
its report yesterday, has suggested that possession of a small amount
of marijuana no longer be regarded as a criminal matter. Instead, it
would be regarded as more of a regulatory offence and result in a fine
that could be paid without a court appearance -- something akin to a
speeding ticket.

This recommendation is different from the more radical advice provided
in September by a committee of the Senate -- the body of sober second
thought -- that smoking marijuana should be legal. Either change,
however, would be consistent with a trend in many democratic
countries, including Great Britain and Holland, toward more liberal
treatment of marijuana users. The idea of removing marijuana from
criminal courts is hardly new. The Le Dain commission made that
recommendation 30 years ago.

Although the government is likely to take some time before deciding
exactly how to respond to the committee's recommendation, Justice
Minister Martin Cauchon's general comments indicate he is sympathetic
to a more liberal approach. Speaking after the Senate released its
report, he suggested the current marijuana laws are outdated. "We must
be able to evolve at the pace of society," he said.

Cauchon's approach is different from that taken earlier this week by
several Ontario cabinet ministers.

Attorney General David Young described himself as flabbergasted that
Ottawa had made this matter a priority. Health Minister Tony Clement,
after joking that the people on Parliament Hill behind this report
might be using drugs, said, "As health minister, I'm against people
polluting their bodies in whatever form that takes."

That's a fair point and it has to be answered head-on. To suggest that
smoking marijuana not be a criminal matter is not the same as
advocating its use. There are many products that a health minister
could legitimately say "pollute a body" that are not illegal to
possess. Cigarettes and alcohol are but two examples. Criminal law
should be reserved for major offences that harm the society generally,
not for minor matters that, at most, have a negative effect upon the
individuals involved.

From a philosophical perspective, the debate on marijuana is likely
to go on indefinitely, but from a pragmatic viewpoint, the Commons'
committee's approach is more likely to be turned into law than the
Senate recommendation. It is a compromise between the use of full
criminal sanctions and complete decriminalization.

It is, therefore, likely to be less offensive to those who support the
current harsh law. In particular, it is less likely to annoy the
American government, which has not shown an interest in liberal
marijuana laws. The middle course seems the most reasonable. The
federal government should decriminalize marijuana -- now.