NO POT OF GOLD

There is no doubt that outright legalization of marijuana, as a Senate
committee advocated on Wednesday, would solve a number of problems.

The bigger question is whether it wouldn't create more problems than it's
worth. If cannabis went the way of liquor and became government regulated
and distributed, organized crime would no longer be taking in all the
profits. That's a good thing.

Legalization would depress the price of a joint, but taxes - aimed both at
deterring youthful puffers and at generating revenue for government coffers
- - would drive it back up again. There would still be plenty of opportunity
to grow cheaper, black market grass. So the organized crime problem would
not disappear into thin air.

There is also another niche criminal gangs would continue to exploit:
smuggling. Much of the pot grown in B.C., for example, is destined not for
domestic consumption (although there's plenty of that) but for the larger
market in the U.S. If some operations were licensed to grow pot in Canada,
the domestic market would shrink for illegal growers. The real money would
be in getting a bigger supply past the 49th parallel. Half of Washington
already views Canada as a terrorist haven. Just wait till it becomes a pot
paradise, too.

Legalization backers point out that as a sovereign country, Canada should
be able to enact any drug law it sees fit. This is true in theory. But
American drug policy matters in the real world. The border - Canada's
economic lifeline - is already a mess. The last thing we need is for the
U.S. to reinforce it with pot patrols.

Legalization of cannabis would certainly reduce the burden on Canadian
courts. About 25,000 Canadians are charged annually and $5 million a year
is spent on prosecuting pot-possession cases. But decriminalization, or at
the very least relaxing the penalties for simple possession, could achieve
the same results with fewer complications.

Here's one such complication: A fully legal product could conceivably be
advertised like beer or cigarettes. How would Canadian parents feel about
pot being pitched in ads? Cannabis may not be a "gateway drug," but it's
hard to argue chronic use isn't harmful to your health.

The Senate committee is right when it concludes that prohibition doesn't
work. But it does not necessarily follow that outright legalization will.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves.