cannabisnews.com: Taking It One Toke at a Time Taking It One Toke at a Time Posted by CN Staff on September 09, 2002 at 10:23:35 PT Editorial Source: Toronto Sun With the federal government still trying to get its act together on the medical use of marijuana, a Senate committee last week recommended legalizing pot for anyone over 16. This would go well beyond even the current political debate over whether to decriminalize marijuana, resulting in some of the most liberal laws on pot use in the world. We disagree, although the report, which seemed primarily intended to provoke debate, did make some valid points. After all, if we imprisoned every Canadian who ever experimented with a little pot, we'd be constructing jails on every street corner in the country and tossing many MPs and Senators inside as well. The report says our laws clog up the courts and turn hundreds of thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens into criminals. Efforts to crack down on simple possession occupy valuable police resources, with minimal effect. Worst of all - for politicians - prohibition is an open invitation for criminals to rake in billions in profits, while denying governments the chance to tax the hell out of it. So, legalize it? Well, hang on. It's not enough to propose simplistic solutions to complex problems. Legalizing marijuana would create a whole new set of problems that must be addressed as part of any serious debate on reforming marijuana laws. First, it would be widely interpreted, especially by the young, as tacit acceptance of the practice, and that smoking pot is safe. David Griffin of the Canadian Police Association calls the report "a back-to-school gift for drug dealers." The Canadian Medical Association warns total legalization would send a misleading message that there are no health dangers in smoking pot. Bizarrely, the report advocates legalization for those over 16, well under the legal drinking age. Who's kidding whom? It's illegal to sell cigarettes or booze to minors, yet kids under age today have little difficulty obtaining either. How do we address the unhappy consequence that legalizing pot use at the age of 16 would drive the age of the actual users down even further? We suggest Ottawa begin by proving it can provide Canadians with a sensible plan for the medical use of marijuana, before it goes off half-cocked legalizing the stuff. Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)Published: September 9, 2002Copyright: 2002 Canoe Limited PartnershipContact: editor sunpub.comWebsite: http://www.fyitoronto.com/torsun.shtmlRelated Articles:NAPP: Don't Legalize Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14048.shtmlWhy Cannabis Should Be Legal http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14045.shtmlWhere There's Toke ...http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14040.shtmlPolice Chief Slams Legal Pot Planhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13999.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #12 posted by Dan B on September 09, 2002 at 22:09:27 PT: On Prohibitionists and Millstones "We disagree, although the report, which seemed primarily intended to provoke debate, did make some valid points.Frankly, it annoys me that people who disagree with the report seem to have a proclivity toward making the assertion that the report must have been "primarily intended to provoke debate." No, it was not merely intended to provoke debate; it was intended to shed light on the facts that the author and people like the author can't handle because they are either backward, plain stupid, or both. The Canadian Senate committee of nine set out to find the facts about cannabis, and they did. Now that their report is available, prohibitionists (as usual) are coming out in full force to say, "Bury your heads back in the sand, eveyone! This storm, too, shall pass!"But it won't. We will continue to shout the truth from whatever soapbox we can find, and the prohibitionists will not win. I close with this admonition from the Bible, followed by a question:"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea" Matthew 18: 5-6 What greater way is there to cause a child to sin than to lie to children and their parents, in the name of protecting children, so that you may one day have the opportunity to arrest a child's parents and remove those children from their families, placing them in the "care" of the state, and ruining their lives forever, all because of a plant? Shame on prohibitionists, and may God create a millstone big enough to fit around all of their necks.Dan B [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by VitaminT on September 09, 2002 at 17:50:22 PT Valerie and Steph just interviewed on Flashpoints w/ Denis Bernstien on the Pacifica Network. It's not archived yet but there's good (if limited) coverage of the issue on their website. Flashpoints [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by John Tyler on September 09, 2002 at 17:45:00 PT Poll 65.3% yes [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by st1r_dude on September 09, 2002 at 17:07:50 PT thanks FoM and mayan and all who assisted with this poll...i like to share these opportunities, especially when they're from a local newspaper...thanks for your participation.grassias,st1d and happy [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by mayan on September 09, 2002 at 16:51:17 PT st1r_dude... Thanks for the poll link!Should marijuana cigarettes be legalized if carefully regulated and sold under government supervision? Yes - 62.8% No - 33.3% Undecided - 3.8%Total Votes: 78 [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on September 09, 2002 at 15:33:50 PT Thanks, st1r_dude Current ResultsShould marijuana cigarettes be legalized if carefully regulated and sold under government supervision? 54.8% -- Yes 41.9% -- No 3.2% -- Undecided Total Votes: 62 [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by st1r_dude on September 09, 2002 at 15:15:05 PT poll help, please local newspaper polling viewers on cannabis - big yellow box on the right of the web page - Listen Up survey:http://www.stargazettenews.com/#pollgrassias - http://www.stargazettenews.com/#poll [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Sam Adams on September 09, 2002 at 14:00:16 PT Attention, Toronto Sun If you need any more reasons why a half-assed, partial solution is the wrong answer, please note the recent DEA campaign in California.The only way to call off the dogs is complete legitimacy for cannabis. Otherwise the cruel and spiteful cowards in society will still be able to persecute the people they don't like.This piece looks like it was written by a hardcore prohibitionist. They know they've already lost decrim, so they've retreated from that front and are consolidating their resources around the full legalization battle-line. However, if the whole "war" analogy holds true, the victory will only accelerate from here.How can anyone write this complete BS about children? No one who has ever visited Amsterdam would write this crap. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by schmeff on September 09, 2002 at 13:15:40 PT Cannabis smokers will pay higher insurance? Two years ago I purchased a whole-life insurance policy. A very large one. It required a full medical work-up...EKG, urinalysis, blood tests.My insurance broker asked me if there might be any....ummm...'lifestyle' issues that might be revealed in the urine and blood tests. I told him I smoked cannabis.He seemed to breathe a visible sigh of relief and told me that for the most part, insurance companies did not see the financial benefits of testing for THC, as their vast library of actuarial statistics evidenced no measurable lifespan reduction for people who only smoke marijuana. They test for nicotine, they test for narcotics and amphetamines. They look for alcohol.But if it doesn't affect your lifespan, they don't look for it. They don't look for THC. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by TecHnoCult on September 09, 2002 at 12:22:00 PT Some truth to the article The truth is, it will initially send out the message they are so afraid of. However, this is simply because all this will prove all the vastly exagerated bad claims regarding cannabis are wrong. Since the same camp has been exagerating these claims for decades, the legalization camp is making these claims so incredible, that we are bound to beleive the opposite. However, as the senate committee predicted, if the subject is treated rationally by the government, then the people will treat it rationally.Did the repeal of prohibition send a message that alcohol is risk free? I don't think so. The big differene here is, alcohol was probably never demonized as much as cannabis. In the end, once legalized, the sergeon general (is the Minister of Health the Canadian equivilant?) will order disclaimers on the substance, studies will be made, and us cannabis smokers will pay higher insurance, and it will be much like tobacco and alcohol, a recreational substance with some benefits and some reasonable risks.THC [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by jvthc on September 09, 2002 at 11:09:38 PT: It gets me every time.... Oh - the children!The author, most prohibitionists and even decriminalists (I think we're adding vocabulary in these debates) seem to think we'll unless forces that drives ever increasing volumes of children in younger ages into smoking pot. Kids don't pay attention to the law. To them, if the mother finds out - that's their law. Children don't receive messages from the law - and the shouldn't! If my son is going to receive any message, IT WILL BE FROM ME!Whatever forces they imagine work to induce kids to smoke pot is in effect right now! It will still be in effect either way! The only forces we can ever hope to guide our children are their parents and family. Any further intrusion is either imaginary or entirely unwelcome.Just think of the effect DARE had. It was an exaggerated message we shouldn't have trusted in the government's hands, the kids got the message that it was a pack of lies, and it imposed nearly the exact opposite effect of its goal.They see the legal status of marijuana in the same light. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by p4me on September 09, 2002 at 10:55:07 PT That is one man's opinion We suggest Ottawa begin by proving it can provide Canadians with a sensible plan for the medical use of marijuana, before it goes off half-cocked legalizing the stuff.Everyones entitled to his opinion. The committee made its recommendations and they do not agree with the author's opinion although I think what they say would lead to a better world unlike the prohibitionist world that the author supports. I think 51% of the Canadian people believed MJ should be legalized and that percentage could have only increased. Legalization is coming because it is the right thing to do. And by the way, legalization would solve the Canadians MMJ problem which shows how stupid of on opinion this author really has.1,2 [ Post Comment ] Post Comment