cannabisnews.com: Criminal Possession Law is Reefer Madness





Criminal Possession Law is Reefer Madness
Posted by FoM on November 06, 2001 at 11:54:15 PT
By Don Martin 
Source: Calgary Herald 
The kid parked in the rusty Chevy Nova with three teenage buddies was getting ready for a high school dance in routine rebel style -- with a case of beer in the back seat and a marijuana joint in circulation. Suddenly, powerful flashlights blasted through the side windows, the front doors were yanked open and loud voices warned everyone not to move. The driver, crazy Bob Green, instinctively hit the accelerator, dragging two police officers along the asphalt for a hundred metres until a punch to his head and talk of a gun from one of the cops put the brakes to any dramatic escape attempt. 
The undercover officers dumped the beer in the parking lot -- and busted the guy caught holding the bag of dope. The year was 1974. That kid was me. And the yellow court summons was the biggest scare of my life, at least until the possession confession to my parents. I suppose it would sound trite now to plead that it wasn't my stuff or that I was just innocently guzzling beer while the others smoked up. So I won't. But thanks to some high-priced legal talent and a sympathetic judge, the criminal record attached to that pot possession conviction was discharged. I haven't bought marijuana since. Honest. My case may be a generation old, but the legal persecution against cannabis continues at a pace of five arrests per hour, every hour of the year. Police forces busted 45,000 Canadians for simple possession in 2000 (down from a peak of 65,800 in 1981) and 85 per cent of them were under 25 years old, according to the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. Based on Alberta police estimates of $3,000 in legal costs for every charge, that's $135 million per year going up in smoke to criminalize a plant legally approved as a wonder drug for Canadians tormented by chronic pain and suffering. With our law enforcement resources overwhelmed by the fight against terrorism, this is the time for Canada to reconsider the enormous waste of manpower and money required to maintain grass in the Criminal Code. A private member's bill to decriminalize simple possession of small amounts of marijuana will be debated for three hours in the House of Commons on Wednesday and put to a vote. Keith Martin, a B.C. physician and Alliance MP, sponsored the bill, which would remove the criminal conviction and leave only a maximum fine of $200 for a first offence. Martin's push is not the same as legalization, which he doesn't favour. The stuff has health risks, specifically cognitive impairment and lung damage, which justify it being kept as a controlled substance, he says. But to die from an overdose would require a superhuman inhalation effort. And it's a scientific given that marijuana is not physically or psychologically addictive, unlikely to lead to harder drugs and less disorienting than alcohol, solvents or any other narcotic. Never before has Parliament appeared to be so ripe and ready for decriminalization to move forward, if only legal logic could overcome the intransigent opposition of Prime Minister Jean Chretien.An all-party committee of MPs was struck last May to explore the issue.A Senate committee on illegal drugs continues to hear from witnesses testifying, as a leading U.S. drug policy institute and New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson did Monday, to the folly of striving for a drug-free society using criminality and incarceration as the weapons of deterrent. Internationally, there is a clear trend toward surrender in the war against cannabis. Swiss farmers can grow it commercially.In a dozen U.S. states, possession is no longer a crime. Last month, the British Home Secretary endorsed decriminalization while police in south London have stopped arresting marijuana smokers, opting instead for a verbal warning. As the Canadian Medical Association noted in supporting decriminalization, the stigma of having a record discourages qualified students from enrolling in medical school, which can only mean bright lights are also being blocked from legal, scientific or other professional occupations by a small grass stain on their otherwise clean record. The time for further study is over. It ended when Toronto law school dean Gerald Le Dain's commission wrapped up its exhaustive research effort by recommending the criminal prohibition of cannabis be repealed. The year was 1969.Yet here we are, 32 years and billions of law enforcement dollars later, stuck with the same outdated ineffective marijuana law.Reefer madness indeed. And out there somewhere in Canada tonight, a kid in a car built long after most Chevy Novas were melted down for scrap will be caught holding the bag -- and another teenage criminal will be created under a law that should've been junked a generation ago.Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)Author: Don Martin Published: Tuesday, November 06, 2001Copyright: 2001 Calgary HeraldContact: letters theherald.southam.caWeb Site: http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/Related Articles & Web Site:FTE's Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmChasing Potheads Called Waste of Timehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11258.shtmlCanada Goes to Pot - We Should Follow http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10487.shtml 
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Comment #2 posted by TroutMask on November 06, 2001 at 13:37:57 PT
More wishful thinking
Is it just me or has there been a sudden increase in pro-marijuana editorials and letters-to-the-editor in the Canadian press lately?The wall of marijuana prohibition is wavering and looks to be getting terribly unstable...-TM
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Comment #1 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on November 06, 2001 at 12:48:19 PT
Wishful thinking
>>In a dozen U.S. states, possession is no longer a crime.  REALLY?? Care to tell us which ones??? Either the author has got a distorted view of the various states medical marijuana initiatives - there's only 9 at last count - or he read the Bill Clinton interview in Rolling Stone. Goes to show that even people on our side aren't immune to making statements with no basis in fact. Which is a sad thing, because there are so many good ones I'd like to see in print more often.  Now... Britain, Belgium, Switzerland... these are all countries shifting rapidly to decrim. Perhaps he was thinking of europe?
Get the facts!
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