MARIJUANA DEBATE CALLS FOR CAUTION

Guelph-Wellington MP Brenda Chamberlain has weighed in on a Senate
committee report calling for the legalization of marijuana, and there were
no real surprise in her comments.

In a joint (no pun intended) statement with Huron-Bruce MP Paul Steckle
issued Thursday, Chamberlain said the idea of legalizing pot is "bizarre."

"To legalize marijuana is not the way to go," she told a Mercury reporter
yesterday. "To put marijuana in corner stores is not a direction we should
be moving in, and I don't support it."

On Wednesday, the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs raised eyebrows
when it went further than most people expected as it recommended not only
that marijuana be decriminalized, but that it be made legal.

As marijuana advocates and law enforcement agencies -- notably the Canadian
Police Association -- were chiming in on different sides of the issue,
federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon was trying to calm the waters.

While sidling past the question of legalization, Cauchon did suggest
Thursday that decriminalization "would be a feasible first step" towards
the reform of marijuana laws in this country.

That played into a sentiment which Cauchon claims has "strong support"
here: that possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use
shouldn't be a criminal matter.

Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper said 'not so fast.'

"As a parent, I would be more concerned about pot use than alcohol use by
my children, even in moderation," he told the media.

For all those who have followed the great marijuana debate in Canada, all
this sounds very familiar.

It was 30 years ago that the first major government-sponsored investigation
of marijuana issued its report, and a look back proves revealing.

The LeDain royal commission attracted attention not only in Canada but also
in other parts of the world, especially the United States, which has taken
a much more conservative approach to drug use than many other Western nations.

Coming at a time when penalties meted out by the courts for a whole range
of drug offences were notably harsher than they are today, the LeDain
commission of the early 1970s made the then-radical recommendation that the
simple possession of cannibas and cultivation for personal use be allowed,
but that criminal sanctions continue against the importation and
trafficking of marijuana.

"Although research has not clearly established that cannibas has
sufficiently harmful effects to justify the present legislative policy
towards it, there are serious grounds for social concerns about its use,"
the commission report concluded.

"This concern calls for a continuing policy to discourage its use by means
which involve a more acceptable cost than present policies to the
individual and to society," the commissioners found, and recommended less
stringent criminal sanctions regarding the illegal distribution of marijuana.

Even with the LeDain inquiry there was no unanimity. Two of the five
commissioners issued dissenting opinions. Commissioner Ian Campbell in
particular opposed the decriminalization of simple possession of marijuana,
stating such a move "is apt to be seriously misinterpreted, particularly by
young people."

Marijuana possession, of course, remains a criminal offence in this
country, although it's not uncommon for first-time offenders who appear
before the courts to be granted as lenient a penalty as possible, an
absolute discharge.

It's quite evident that the question of non-medicinal use of drugs in this
country is far from resolved, and there are some interesting side issues to
consider.

Regardless of the question of marijuana's addictive or non-addictive
properties, for instance, there's little question that smoking marijuana,
like smoking a cigarette, a cigar or a pipe, isn't particularly beneficial
to your health. In fact, the impact on your lungs of inhaling a joint is as
harmful -- maybe even more harmful -- as sucking in tobacco smoke.

At a time when the federal government and health agencies are spending a
considerable amount of money to try and convince smokers to give up the
habit, it's ironic that a non-elected government body is sending a signal,
no matter how well intentioned, that could seduce people into believing
that marijuana smoking is a benign activity, healthwise.

Finally, Justice Minister Cauchon was quick to play down any impact the
Senate committee report may have in Washington. He won't be swayed by
American views on marijuana, he said. "I'll do what's good for Canadian
society."

That's a noble sentiment, but a naive one. There's little question that
decriminalization, let alone legalization, of marijuana in Canada would be
viewed dimly by U.S. lawmakers. That's a reality we have to deal with, and
one that has to be taken into account in this cautious debate.