cannabisnews.com: The Pot Thickens The Pot Thickens Posted by CN Staff on July 21, 2002 at 20:18:38 PT Editorial Source: Sudbury Star Canada’s marijuana laws don’t work. The country’s police chiefs said so years ago. More recently so did the Senate’s legal affairs committee and so do millions of Canadians who every day continue to blaze a trail and flout the law through their recreational use of marijuana.Now federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon is gingerly adding his voice to the growing number of credible sources who think Canada’s laws must be reworked. Cauchon is toying with decriminalizing marijuana use by making possession of small amounts of cannabis a ticketing offence, much like a traffic violation. To his credit, Cauchon has avoided jumping to conclusions about exactly what new federal legislation should do with marijuana, but he has clearly indicated that he finds the current law unacceptable. As it now stands, simple possession of marijuana is a criminal offence, punishable by imprisonment. Believing this to be too harsh, the government is considering some form of decriminalization, though possession would still be illegal. Presumably, growing marijuana for commercial purposes in homes would remain illegal, as would trafficking marijuana. Cauchon’s suggestion follows on the heels of Great Britain, which last week became the latest European country to relax its possession laws. There, police would arrest marijuana users only if they caused public problems or threatened to harm children. Other countries, such as the Netherlands, have gone even further in liberalizing marijuana laws. There are strong, well-known arguments for making reforms here. When the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs committee recommended in 1996 to change the law, it reported an estimated 3 million Canadians were using marijuana and hashish. That, they said, was strong proof the punitive approach had failed.Research in the United States suggests that relaxed laws haven’t had much effect on marijuana use or the long-held contention that it eventually leads to the use of harder drugs. The 11 states that issue tickets for possession show no higher use than states that maintain tough laws. As for the contention that smoking pot will lead to hard drugs, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police believe they could actually do a better job on cracking down on more dangerous drugs and on traffickers if they could free up resources now used to enforce discredited marijuana laws. While police in Sudbury and elsewhere move to crack down on harder drugs and the growth of organized crime that is often behind it, there is little to indicate that simple marijuana possession poses a similar danger.The real debate in the months ahead should not be about whether to go ahead and reform the laws, or even the principle of decriminalization, but rather the details of these reforms. Marijuana remains a vice, like drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes. It would be better handled through public education and societal norms than police crackdowns and giving people criminal records.Our Opinion: It’s time for the federal government to decriminalize recreational marijuana use.Source: Sudbury Star (CN ON)Published: July 21, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Sudbury StarContact: letters thesudburystar.comWebsite: http://www.thesudburystar.comRelated Articles & Web Site:Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmDecriminalizing Pot: Why Stop There?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13493.shtmlCanada: There's a Funny Smell in the Airhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13490.shtmlLight Up, Inhale, Decriminalize http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13456.shtmlWould Softer Pot Law Stir Wrath of U.S.? http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13401.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment