SOME SOBER SECOND THOUGHT

Who would have thought that a retirement home for politicians with the
rather tepid sales pitch for its existence as being a chamber of sober
second thought, would actually have the guts to do what most elected
politicians are too scared to - point out that the emperor has no clothes
when it comes to marijuana laws in this country.

The fact that a committee of the Canadian Senate has unanimously
recommended legalization and not the wishy-washy decriminalization of one
of this province's most important (economically) cash crops is a welcome
step in chipping away at the ongoing war against personal choice, otherwise
known as the war against drugs.

There is plenty to debate in the Senate committee's report, such as a legal
age for legal pot consumption set at 16 or just how a legal pot regime
would function. This discussion should be a real barn burner. But as our
wishy-washy MPs put their heads around the notion of having to take a
logical position on drug prohibition in light of government-run booze
stores and a society in which pharmacies sell cigarettes, we ask that as
this debate rages that two things be kept in mind:

- - Police departments and officers' jobs are to enforce the laws, not set
them. Although police associations have every right to have an opinion on
the matter, that opinion should have no more weight than the surfer-dude
down the street; and - What the U.S. thinks about this should be a
non-issue in Canada.

Now, let the fun begin and the arguments fly.