IT'S TIME TO STOP CALLING THE POT BLACK

Emily Murphy, one of the "Famous Five," was right on the mark in her fight
for women's rights but a shameless charlatan where pot was concerned.

In her 1922 book, The Black Candle, Murphy, Canada's first female judge,
declared that marijuana users become "completely insane," lose moral
responsibility and even kill.

It was her anti-pot crusade, in fact, that resulted in the prohibition of
marijuana in the first place.

As a University of Toronto public health expert recently told the Senate
committee reviewing our drug laws, there was no reason, health or
otherwise, to ban cannabis.

Canada criminalized pot in the 1920s because of U.S. propaganda about the
drug, U of T professor Benedikt Fischer told the Senate committee.

In the blink of an eye, with little debate or evidence of the risks
associated with pot, our politicians banned one of the most benign drugs on
the planet.

Canadians long ago dismissed the hysteria that marijuana turns people into
killers and lunatics.

But the Canadian Police Association seems bent on spreading a parallel
mythology - although not to the laughable extremes of the anti-pot
crusaders of a century ago.

Even the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police supports the
decriminalization of pot for personal use, in conjunction with
drug-education programs and treatment for abusers.

But the CPA is dead against the liberalization of our drug laws, claiming
marijuana is dangerous.

Just this week, CPA president Grant Obst repeated the association's
position that loosening our drug laws will lead to the use of harder drugs.

The association used similar scare tactics during its submission to the
Senate drug committee in May, where it said it prefers enforcement over a
public health approach.

"There is abundant proof that proponents of drug legalization seek to
normalize illicit drug use," CPA executive director David Griffin told the
committee.

"Marijuana is internationally recognized as a gateway drug for other drug
use," Regina police officer Dale Orban added.

Wrong on both counts. The CPA is misrepresenting the message that health
professionals have been stating for years. The current drug laws are
virtually ineffective in deterring people from using drugs.

The groups pressing for less restrictive laws have never suggested society
should condone drug use.

They're saying we need a balanced approach that combines education and
treatment programs with punishment that fits the crime.

You have to ask yourself why you can get six months in jail for pot
possession when tobacco and booze, which are vastly more dangerous, incur
no criminal sanctions.

If our drug laws are based on health concerns, why are tobacco and alcohol,
which kill thousands of people a year, legal? In contrast, pot's adverse
health effects are relatively minor.

If our laws are based on morality, the state's spending millions of dollars
annually to wag its finger at us. And the cops have no time or resources to
hunt down real criminals anymore.

As for the notion that pot leads to the use of harder substances, all the
credible researchers agree that marijuana is not a gateway drug.

The vast majority (98%) of pot smokers don't progress to harder drugs, B.C.
medical officer of health Dr. Perry Kendall told the Senate committee in
September.

As for those who do go on to harder drugs, it's too simplistic to blame
pot, according to Kendall.

The more likely explanation is that a variety of factors, including family
relationships and youth rebellion, are to blame, he believes.

Tobacco is the real gateway drug, he told the committee.

But you don't hear the CPA calling for a cigarette ban.

Earlier this week, I wrote that repeat killer Harvey Andres could apply for
parole with respect to his first murder conviction. I was wrong.