TO LEGALIZE OR NOT TO LEGALIZE - THAT IS THE QUESTION

The debate is on at very high levels - no pun intended. Canada is
apparently drawing closer to legalizing marijuana.

Some people already have permission to consume the drug for medical
reasons. It has some benefits in controlling the pain and nausea which
often accompany chemotherapy. Migraine sufferers find relief in the drug,
as do people with chronic pain from a variety of conditions. Their
complaint is that while they can consume the drug legally, they are forced
to buy it on the street.

People against legalization state the same pain-control benefits are
available from prescription drugs. As long as physicians are willing to
prescribe them is sufficient dosages to be effective, and make quality of
life a priority, there should be no need to seek relief from an illegal
drug purchased from criminals.

At the same time, it would make sense to conduct studies to determine the
medical effectiveness of marijuana, compared to other treatments. And if we
are going to provide marijuana to sick people, it would make sense to get
some quality control involved. A fairly vociferous lobby group insists the
only thing wrong with marijuana is growing it and selling it are against
the law. They claim if people could grow, sell and consume it legally, it
would not be a "gateway" drug which leads to worse drugs. Their theory is
if people did not have to deal with criminals to get marijuana, they would
not be exposed to the really bad drugs such as heroin. Then again, some
people are in favour of legalizing - or at least decriminalizing - heroin, too.

Many Canadians are less accepting than they are pragmatic. The drug is
widely used, and some of us feel it is time for our legal system to give in
to the inevitable - stop trying to enforce laws which are basically
unenforceable, slap a tax on the drug and make the government some money.
It worked with gambling casinos. Many of us are angered that consuming a
mild intoxicant, which is to the younger generation what alcohol is to the
older generation, has earned thousands of people in this country criminal
records. They want this changed, and to a large extent, it has been. People
caught by police with a small quantity of the drug are routinely warned
without being arrested. Simple possession these days means nothing more
than a small fine.

More people might be in favour of legalizing marijuana and treating it like
alcohol if there were a readily available test for it. A person driving
erratically can be pulled off the road and lose his driver's licence if a
simple breath test indicates consumption of too much alcohol. There is no
simple roadside screening device for marijuana. While someone driving
stoned on marijuana can be charged with impaired driving, the charge of
driving with an excessive blood alcohol level is a lot easier to prove.
Courts prefer, "Breathalyser readings were 180 and 190," to, "His eyes
looked bloodshot and there was an odour in the car."

Most of us, particularly youngsters, know marijuana will not eat the brain
and trigger instant depravity, as was portrayed in the old movie "Reefer
Madness". But we also know it is not a completely benign, harmless drug.

Take a young person with poor impulse control and difficulty concentrating,
get him high on marijuana, and you will get an individual with no impulse
control and the learning capacity of a potato chip. This drug has no place
behind the wheel, and certainly no place at school. As long as the drug
remains illegal, the authorities have at least some leverage.

The final point goes back to quality control, or lack thereof. Smoking
tobacco is recognized as a health hazard. Communities all over the province
are enacting bylaws to ban smoking in public places. Meanwhile, the highest
political body in the country (hopefully, no pun) wants to legalize smoking
another leafy substance. Something is wrong with this picture.