cannabisnews.com: Can Canada Can Cannabis Canards? Can Canada Can Cannabis Canards? Posted by CN Staff on September 06, 2002 at 15:08:18 PT By Jacob Sullum Source: Reason Magazine American college students already head north of the border for drinks and lap dances. Could they soon be going up to Canada to smoke pot as well? This week the Canadian Senate's Special Committee on Drugs issued a 600-page report calling for the legalization of marijuana. The document may simply join the dusty pile of calm, measured drug policy assessments that governments have routinely ignored for the last century. But as the work of a legislative committee (albeit one drawn from a chamber whose members do not face election), it is remarkable both for debunking canards about marijuana and for recommending bold changes in the law. Among other things, the report concludes that "cannabis itself is not a cause of other drug use" or of crime; that "most users are not at-risk users" liable to addiction; that "cannabis alone, particularly in low doses, has little effect on the skills involved in automobile driving"; and that "cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol." In language strikingly similar to what one hears from American critics of the war on drugs—although almost never, as in this case, from members of the national legislature—the committee says "the continued prohibition of cannabis jeopardizes the health and well-being of Canadians much more than does the substance itself." It also argues that prohibition "undermines the fundamental values set out in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms." The report's policy proposals, unanimously endorsed by the committee, are courageous as well. Rather than merely recommend that the government stop arresting pot smokers, as England has more or less done, or tolerate retail marijuana sales while keeping the business technically illegal, which is the policy in the Netherlands, the committee calls for a system in which "persons over the age of 16" could "procure cannabis and its derivatives at duly licensed distribution centers." This sounds similar to the arrangement envisioned by reformers in Nevada, except that the minimum age there would be 21. The committee recommends that growing marijuana for personal use also be permitted and that Canadians convicted of pot possession receive amnesty. "We have come to the conclusion that marijuana should be regulated by the state much as we do for wine and beer, hence our preference for legalization over decriminalization," the committee says. "Whether or not an individual uses marijuana should be a personal choice that is not subject to criminal penalties." It's a sad commentary on the ossified state of drug policy in the United States that Canada—home of socialized health care, strict gun control, and speech restrictions—has something to teach us about personal choice. Jacob Sullum is a Reason senior editor. He is the author of a book on the morality of drug use, forthcoming in June from Tarcher/Putnam.Editors' LinksSource: Reason Magazine (US)Author: Jacob SullumPublished: September 6, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Reason FoundationContact: letters reason.comWebsite: http://www.reason.com/ DL: http://reason.com/links/links090602.shtmlRelated Articles & Web Site:NRLEhttp://www.nrle.org/Legalize Marijuana, Senate Committee Sayshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13989.shtmlPot Less Harmful Than Alcohol: Senate Report http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13986.shtml Vegas Measure Gambles on Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13896.shtmlPot Users Relax with New Lawhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13410.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #7 posted by VitaminT on September 07, 2002 at 08:22:38 PT sounds like a Liberal to me flapping in the breeze!sad and pathetic [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Jose Melendez on September 07, 2002 at 07:38:28 PT Senator backpedals. from: http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?ID=E60C6DE0-FE96-4E3F-85F0-484007111BB1 A Liberal Senator has thrown the Senate's unanimous call for the legalization of marijuana into doubt, saying she only supports the decriminalization of the drug. "I wasn't at the last meeting and I don't agree," Shirley Maheu said last night. "I don't feel that we've come to a consensus that we ought to legalize marijuana." Ms. Maheu, a Liberal from Montreal, wasn't at the committee's final meeting where members voted on the 600-page report, and she doesn't feel she should have been lumped in as supporting legalization. That Ms. Maheu doesn't agree with legalization was news to committee chairman Pierre Claude Nolin. "What?" he asked. "She received the report, she read the report. No, no, no, she cannot say that." Mr. Nolin said his Senate colleague is probably back-pedalling because she's afraid her former constituents in Montreal will get upset. "This is troubling," he said. "She knows exactly what we were doing. I think she's probably afraid of the turmoil." Mr. Nolin admitted Ms. Maheu was not at the meeting where a vote was held, but insisted she understood what was going on. "She received copies of all the written material," he said. "It was sent to her and she reviewed it. I spoke to her many times. She was part of our discussions. She knew that we were taking the vote that day. She said, 'Unfortunately I cannot be there, but don't worry.' " Meanwhile, Ms. Maheu insists "senator Nolin never used the word legalization with me." For her part, she admitted that if she wanted to formally dissent, she should have written a dissenting report. But, she said, the timing was difficult for her as she's been on vacation. "It was the timing and we don't have staff in the field," she said. "Last week, I was in Vietnam -- we did a symposium with female MPs over there -- and I come back and get hit with this." Ms. Maheu said she objects to the idea of 16-year-olds having legal access to marijuana. She also doesn't agree with the statement that it's less harmful than alcohol. "None of this has been absolutely proven," she argued. "And if we don't want people to smoke, why are we going to give 16-year-olds permission to smoke marijuana? I'd hate to be a mother of a 16-year-old reading this report and seeing that there's a chance the government's going to let my child smoke marijuana." Last night, she was trying to reach the other committee members to find out if they were at the meeting and if they supported the report. "I don't know how many were there, but I'm going to find out," she said. "There's a big difference between two saying we were unanimous and three or five not being there."© Copyright 2002 The Ottawa Citizen Ottawa Citizen article [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by R-Earing on September 07, 2002 at 07:27:20 PT: Nice tone! Sad...that..Canada... has something to teach US about personal choice.Could you be just a little more condescending? I know all Canadians are just igloo dwelling hosers while ALL Americans are bona fide rocket scientists.-You have more homicides per year per large city than we have in our entire country.-The "New Jersey Weedman" can't speak about pot and WE are the ones with speech restrictions?-Socialized health care is a "bad" thing? I suppose paying taxes for highways is a big communist plot too? [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by The GCW on September 07, 2002 at 07:24:45 PT our quest for peace, makes Us safe targets for the evil sick violent ones. We are steadfast in Our quest for peace, even though We oppose those who resort to great harm.---------------------------We demand the complete liberation of our culture, and the right to grow and trade in cannabis products without penalty or interference. As long as our sacred plant is banned anywhere in the world then our job is not yet finished.I urge you to join us in our quest for peace, pot and an end to the global drug war.Dana Larsen Editor, Cannabis Culture http://www.hempbc.com/articles/2610.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by The GCW on September 07, 2002 at 07:14:54 PT Canada's potty Parliament by Michael Cust and Dana Larsen (05 Sept, 2002) Angry MP wields mace as government kills pot-decrim. http://www.hempbc.com/articles/2492.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on September 06, 2002 at 15:35:08 PT Thanks Hope I posted this one. It's very sad. Drug Sentence Puts Adler Out of Race http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14019.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Hope on September 06, 2002 at 15:20:46 PT Off topic...Rev. Adler is in jail. http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1664/a05.html?1571 [ Post Comment ] Post Comment