Further to this post, this week's Calgary Herald column from yours truly looks at Ottawa's plans to crack down on marijuana:
However, it is drug prohibition which is at the root of so much of the violence we are trying to address. Which then begs the question: does "getting tough on crime"mean we want less crime or merely more criminals on whom we can "get tough"? The government's ongoing commitment to the war on drugs would seem to ensure that it's the latter.
It is time for a rethink. More of the same policy only means more of the same result on the streets. A good place to start would be the private members bill tabled by Liberal MP Keith Martin which would decriminalize the simple possession of marijuana.
Decriminalization does not go far enough, however. A bolder approach would be to revisit the 2002 report of the Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs which recommended the legalization of marijuana.
Any honest assessment of marijuana should indicate that it belongs not alongside cocaine and heroin, but rather alongside alcohol and tobacco: legal, regulated, and restricted to adults.
And if we really want to stop marijuana from being used as a "currency" by organized crime, then the simplest and most logical means by which to do so is to take it out of their realm.
In defending this new bill, Nicholson argued that Canadians remain confused about the legal status of smoking marijuana. What confuses me is why the government remains intent on pursuing an illogical and counterproductive course of action.
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