TO DECRIMINALIZE OR LEGALIZE MARIJUANA, THAT IS THE QUESTION

The Senate Committee's report on legalizing marijuana has been met with
mixed emotions. Many believe that legalizing marijuana would do more harm
than good, particularly for youth. One the other hand, some people feel that
marijuana should at least be decriminalized for those who use it for
therapeutic purposes. Opinions vary dramatically and it is indeed difficult
to reach a general consensus, although the report was meant to do just that:
open the door to further discussion about the topic. TCN recently
interviewed a few local politicians to get their take on the controversial
subject.

Carole-Marie Allard, MP - Laval-East:

When it comes to drug abuse, Carole-Marie Allard, Laval-East's member of
parliament (MP), feels that "even though marijuana use is an important
issue, it is secondary compared to the importance of examining drug abuse in
general." Allard is also vice chair of the House of Commons' special
committee mandated to study non-medicinal drug use. Having studied drug
abuse and addiction across Canada since May 2001, the study's results will
be made available to the public toward the end of the year.

She deems the Senate Report well-researched and documented. Nevertheless,
she maintains that harder drugs are much more dangerous and that we must
separate marijuana from the harsher drugs. "With 42,000 youths aged between
12 and 25 years old injecting themselves with drugs in the city of Montreal
alone. we need to listen attentively to the needs of our urban centers."

It is these centers that live with the problems of homelessness, drug
addiction and crime Therefore, Allard believes that before marijuana is
legalized or decriminalized, these cities and their respective provinces
need to be consulted so that the federal government does not impose policies
on them, but rather use their input to provide "guidance" to the urban
centers.

At this point Allard stresses, "It is not the will of the government to
legalize or decriminalize marijuana. They want to hold a discussion and
consult the public on the matter." She goes on to indicate that upon release
of the House of Commons' special report on the non-medicinal use of drugs,
including the abuse of certain prescription drugs, the government will be
able to develop a more informed opinion.

Curious to find out what her constituents thought about the Senate's
proposal, Allard took a poll of her riding. Results indicate a strong
disagreement with the legalization and/or decriminalization of marijuana.
She explains that people are uninformed about the impact of legalization on
youths aged 12 to 18. Studies show that if a young person makes it to the
age of 18 without taking drugs, the likelihood of their never becoming a
drug addict increases. However, the impact of greater liberalization with
the use of marijuana has yet to be examined.

"The Senate's proposal is still in the early preliminary stages," affirmed
Allard. Furthermore, she reveals that even Senator Pierre- Claude Nolin,
Chair of the Special Committee for the legalization of marijuana, agrees
that if legalized, the marijuana sold to the public should not contain more
than 13% of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration, the chemical
substance believed to be responsible for most of the plants psychoactive
potency.

However, as Allard pointed out, it is difficult to control the concentration
of THC with which the plant is grown. Cannabis with as high a potency as
20-30% THC has been grown. This in turn would lead to problems with
production. Presently, the government is having trouble monitoring the THC
level in cannabis that is grown specifically for medicinal purposes. "if
legalized for general use, how do we control the potency of the THC in each
plant that is grown?" Allard asked.

Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral, MP - Laval-Centre:

Laval-Centre's MP, Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral believes that the report was
extremely interesting and that from it, a society-wide debate should take
place. She believes that "it is catastrophic that occasionally smoking a
joint or being found in possession of marijuana would constitute a criminal
act." She goes on to specify that the penalties for possession of marijuana
are especially difficult for our youth because the severe consequences that
are imposed are not in line with teaching youngsters how to control or
diminish their dependency.

Guiral worries about adolescents, especially since they are a stage in their
lives where "Anything that is forbidden constitutes an instigator
encouraging youth to disobey that which is prohibited."

This means that youth will try marijuana only to defy the law.

As a result, Guiral confirms, "I'm in favour of at least decriminalizing
marijuana. Another reason she wants to decriminalize marijuana is for those
who use it for medicinal purposes. In her opinion, the federal government
may have opened the door to using marijuana for therapeutic purposes, but
the government is still experiencing difficulty supplying those in need with
cannabis plants. According to Guiral, there are less harmful side effects in
marijuana than there are in certain painkillers used by chemotherapy
patients, Therefore, she believes that marijuana should be made more readily
available for therapeutic purposes.

Health Canada:

On the one hand, the report points out that alcohol has more deleterious
affects on the body than marijuana; on the other hand, studies have found
that marijuana smoking produces three times the amount of tar and five times
the amount of carbon monoxide found in cigarettes. However, both drug are
legal and our society is well-aware of the risks involved in consuming them.
In accordance, because such dependency invoking drugs, as tobacco and
alcohol are legal and readily available to the public, Guiral feels that for
marijuana as well, "We must differentiate between crime and dependency,
which is relative to one's use." Guiral went on to say that "in order to
become a responsible government, we need to study the matter further." She
points out that legalizing marijuana would lead to more improved and secure
managing systems for the production and distribution of cannabis. The
government would not only be able to regulate the levels of THC, they would
also make the drag safer by prohibiting the addition of certain dependency
inducing substances.

The Senate report states that as far as cannabis is concerned, only
behaviour causing demonstrable harm to others should be prohibited: illegal
trafficking, selling to young people under the age of sixteen and impaired
driving. Guiral agrees with that perspective: "the dangers surrounding
marijuana have to do with drug traffickers who put things into the joint to
increase dependency ... therefore, legalization would control production and
distribution and would help reduce organized crime groups selling laced
drugs.

Martin Cauchon, Justice Minister:

At the World Forum on Drug use and Dependency in Montreal, Martin Cauchon,
Canada's Minister of Justice and Attorney General, explained to reporters
that a distinction needs to be made between the legalization and
decriminalization of marijuana. He declared that it would be practically
impossible to "go as far" as legalizing the drug. The reason for this is
because Canada must respect the international drug treaties it has signed
with other countries. Reiterating Allard's observation about the
government's inability to develop a definite stance on the matter, Cauchon
suggested that the government needs to review the House of Commons' report
on drug use before they form an opinion.

Nevertheless, Senator [Pierre Claude] Nolin suggested that cannabis "Should
not be treated as a criminal issue, but as a social and public health
issue," Now it is up to Canadians to make a choice.