FREEDOM OF CHOICE

Society gives people the opportunity to make individual choices, some of
which come with inherent risks or dangers.

We can, for example, choose to jump from a plane with a parachute, climb
the face of a sheer cliff, or race across the water at breakneck speeds.

We can also choose to eat exorbitant amounts of heart-harming red meat,
smoke lung-charring tobacco and drink alcohol to excess - as long as we
don't harm or injure anyone else in the process.

But lawmakers have prohibited us from making choices when it comes to
smoking pot, and they spend an excessive amount of money on enforcing this
top-down decision.

The ability to make appropriate choices - like consuming alcohol in
moderation - is something individuals must learn. Most people who light up
a cigarette are aware of the dangers involved in smoking.

Youth, who may be more influenced by their peers and less caring about the
effects of risky behaviour, have greater restrictions placed on their
ability to make individual choices. They can't drive or purchase tobacco
until they are 16, and in B.C., cannot legally drink alcohol until they are 19.

Parents and educators need to teach youth how to make good choices, how to
stand up for what they believe in and how to avoid being pressured by peers.

It is important people understand the risks involved in all dangerous
behaviour because individual choices can have collective results. And this
is where the law needs step in. An individual who gets behind the wheel of
a car while he is drunk can harm or even kill others who have not chosen to
participate in a dangerous activity.

Law-makers need to focus their resources on containing behaviour that has
moved from individual choice to collective danger.

Too many resources are wasted on finding and destroying marijuana crops,
and prosecuting individuals for possession and cultivation.

Pot-smoking is probably almost as common as alcohol consumption; and
certainly more common than sky-diving or rock climbing. Like alcohol, it
can have dangerous side effects and needs to have perimeters set around its
use.

We believe pot should be decriminalized. Age restrictions can be placed on
its consumption and consumers educated in the dangers associated with its
use. Growers can cultivate it like any other crop, and government officials
can tax it, if they must.

Many individuals - probably those who already refrain from using pot - will
choose not to light up. The many people who have already decided to
participate in risky behaviour will continue to do so. They should be free
to make that choice.