DECRIMINALIZATION A GOOD START TOWARDS LEGALIZATION

It is truly amazing, in this day and age and following years of hard
evidence that the U.S.-style War on Drugs has been an abysmal failure -
including the targetting of the non-addictive and rather benign marijuana
plant - that a politician in B.C. would actually call for Canada to
continue in the failed footsteps of America's paranoid pot war.

But that is exactly what Solicitor General Rich Coleman is preaching, much
to the dismay of anybody with a smidgen of common sense.

While there remains much debate with the federal government's plan to go
forth with a "harm reduction" approach (read: so-called safe injection
sites and needle exchanges) as it tries yet again to get a handle on the
issue of use and dealing of hard drugs like cocaine and heroin, there
should be little debate in discussing marijuana laws.

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon plans to proceed with the plan to
decriminalize simple possession of marijuana, meaning those caught with
less than 30 grams would be subject to a fine, rather than a court date and
possible criminal record.

Decriminalization is a good start, although the feds should take a page
from our Senate, which in the spring rightly recommended outright
legalization and regulation of pot.

And just as our politicians seemed to be doing something right, we get from
Coleman echoes of Nancy Reagan and her insipid "Just Say No" message that
accompanied the failed War on Drugs south of the border.

Coleman told the media yesterday that Canada must continue "to fight the
war on drugs" and should bring in tougher penalties rather than go lenient
on pot.

It's a disappointing stance, but not an unexpected one from an ex-Mountie
like Coleman. It is the Canadian Police Association, after all, that
continues to give life to the Reefer Madness-like myth that marijuana is a
gateway drug.

We applaud the special House of Commons committee that went to work and
finally reached some conclusions with how Canada should treat hard (cocaine
and heroin) addiction and how we should treat softer drugs like marijuana.

Here's hoping their counterparts on the provincial level wake up to the
realization that marijuana remains a highly profitable crop for criminals
precisely because it is illegal.