cannabisnews.com: Ignore U.S. War on Marijuana, Poll Says





Ignore U.S. War on Marijuana, Poll Says
Posted by FoM on May 13, 2000 at 18:51:07 PT
By Ken MacQueen, Vancouver Sun 
Source: The Vancouver Sun
B.C. courts should ignore American pressure to hand tougher sentences to the province's marijuana growers, says a poll conducted for The Vancouver Sun. While a substantial majority of Greater Vancouver respondents said marijuana cultivation should remain a criminal offence, there is little interest in joining America's war on soft drugs, said pollster Steve Bengtson, a partner in Vancouver-based Viewpoints Research. 
The survey of 400 adults in Greater Vancouver communities was conducted May 7-9, as B.C. police forces continued to raid record numbers of marijuana-growing houses. The survey also shows conditional support for shutting down such operations -- if police don't drain resources from combatting the sale of hard drugs. Most respondents did not support U.S. drug enforcement officials, who want B.C. courts to impose tough sentences on marijuana growers in an attempt to cut the flow of pot south of the border. More than 56 per cent agreed that B.C. courts should "ignore the Americans and hand out the sentences we think are appropriate." Some 38 per cent said the courts should "listen to the Americans and hand out tougher sentences." Bengtson said he expects there are two reasons for the response: Canadians resent Americans telling them what to do. As well, they're aware that the U.S. still has a serious drug problem. "I think we're not that stupid," he said. "We recognize the fact that they've not solved the drug problem with these big shows and tough sentences. These are social problems." That said, more than eight in 10 respondents said growing marijuana for sale should be a criminal offence. Notably, however, 55 per cent disagreed with the current law making possession of marijuana for personal use a criminal offence. In other words, Greater Vancouverites seem to support smoking pot, but are opposed to those who profit from selling or growing it. Bengtson said the cleavage in opinions is likely shaped by extensive media coverage of suspected gang activity by some growers, and the damage caused to some grower houses. "The grow operation is a different thing because what we have here is a threat to public safety." They may also resent that growers escape paying taxes on their illegal profits, he said. "We love the fairness principle here." The police crackdown on grow houses received strong public support -- but it appeared to be qualified. More than 73 per cent of respondents agreed that "police should be doing even more" to find and shut down grow operations. However, 64 per cent also agreed that police were spending too much time and money arresting growers -- and "should instead concentrate on those who sell hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine." The responses seem to mean, "if you have a limited budget, spend your time on the hard drugs," said Bengtson. "It's not that they think growing marijuana shouldn't be a criminal offence," he said, "but put that in the light of our other problems and they prioritize heroin and cocaine." Finally, four in 10 respondents 18 to 24 years old claimed to have smoked marijuana in the past year. And some 12 per cent all of respondents said they had, a figure virtually unchanged from a federal survey in 1994. It found almost 12 per cent of British Columbians over age 15 had smoked pot -- the highest level of any Canadian province. Bengtson found a few other demographic variables significant. People in Surrey, White Rock and the Fraser Valley were prone to be much tougher on growing operations. They were two to three times more likely than Vancouverites to hold the opinion that growing marijuana for sale should be a criminal offence, Bengtson noted. And, those with more money and education tend to be more liberal towards the decriminalization of pot. "University graduates were much stronger in holding the opinion that we should ignore the American example on drug policies, compared to people with less education," he added. The Viewpoints survey is considered accurate to within five percentage points, 19 times out of 20. WHAT GREATER VANCOUVER RESIDENTS THINK ABOUT POT: 1. Simple possession of marijuana for personal use should be a criminal offence. AGREE: 40.8% DISAGREE: 54.8% 2. Growing marijuana for sale should be a criminal offence. AGREE: 81% DISAGREE: 16.5% 3. Police should put more resources into finding and shutting down marijuana-growing operations in homes. AGREE: 73.8% DISAGREE: 23.1% 4. Police spend too much time and public money arresting marijuana growers. They should instead concentrate on those who sell hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine. AGREE: 64.3% DISAGREE: 28.6% Based on telephone interviews with 400 Greater Vancouver area residents by Viewpoints Research between May 7-9, 2000 Ran with factbox entitled "WHAT GREATER VANCOUVER RESIDENTS THINK ABOUT POT" which is appended to the end of the story.Published: May 13, 2000Copyright The Vancouver Sun and Pacific Press © 1997Cannabis Related News Archives:http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtmlCannabisNews Articles From Canada:http://lycos.com/srch/?loc=searchbox&ss=&query=cannabisnews+canada
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on May 14, 2000 at 21:54:05 PT
Canada Cannot Legalize Pot Until US Does
Pubdate: Sat, 13 May 2000Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)Copyright: The Vancouver Sun 2000Website: http://www.vancouversun.com/Author: Michael JungAs long as marijuana remains illegal in the U.S., it is Pollyannaish to believe that it can be legalized in Canada (Bust or back off, May 12). The disparity in size between our two countries dictates the agenda of law enforcement here, whether we like it or not. The huge demand for illegal drugs south of the border alone is temptation enough to inspire illegal grow-ops in B.C. To assume legalizing marijuana will reduce the number of these illegal sites is naive.Click the link to read the complete article.http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n643/a04.html
Canada Cannot Legalize Pot Until US Does
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on May 14, 2000 at 10:34:30 PT:
Preachers, preachers, everywhere
and not a lick of sense.Most here already know the sordid origins of the laws regarding illicit drugs in general, and cannabis in particular. But how many of you know what role major religious denominations played in their formulation? Suffice to say, they played a big one. And still are... but a little more warily, now. But the whole basis of the propagnada that's been spewed since 1914 has its' origins in the old hellfire and brimstone fulminations of Protestant missionaries early in the last century.So, what does this have to do with the above article? Simple. We may have overtly divorced the religious underpinning of this 86 year long sermon from the present politics, but our pols are still in the habit of preaching and proselytizing for their peculiar little Gospel. And other nations rightly regard this as little more than an attempt to convert them to the One True Church of the DrugWar. And in the case of weaker neighbors, that conversion is often by the sword (i.e. Panama).Canadians, I hope that you can continue to develop a sensible drug policy, and pay no heed to the soapboxing nutcases ranting from Washington. After all, would you take advice on child welfare from people who send government agents to 'rescue' little children by waving machine pistols in their faces? Or who lock up a million people who've killed or otherwise harmed no one? Or as one mythical character once put it: Who'se more the fool? The fool, or the fool who follows it? 
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