Posted on 07/23/2002 2:21:02 PM PDT by NC_Libertarian
So Justice Minister Martin Cauchon admits he's smoked pot. And he didn't say he merely "tried" it once or that he didn't inhale, either.
His exact words were: "I'm 39 years old. Yes, of course I tried it before, obviously."
Obviously. He said it as if he meant most people in his age group will have smoked the stuff at one time or another. And, of course, it's true: I've smoked it; you've smoked it; cabinet ministers smoked it; anyone who grew up in the '60s or '70s smoked it. Whether we liked it or not is another question. But it would be easier to find middle-aged Canadians who haven't smoked it at least once.
Some of us have even grown a bit of the stuff ( although in my case, it was involuntary - marijuana, courtesy of a previous owner, competed with thistles for dominance in the barnyard of a small farm we once owned. When a five-foot plant grew up between the front tires of an old tractor, we finally recognized it and realized our farm literally had gone to pot. The horses, however, seemed to love it. )
Some Canadians with serious illnesses are permitted to use marijuana as medication, although not without a great deal of difficulty purchasing it.
And so what? Marijuana hasn't changed, but our attitudes toward it over the decades have certainly moderated. In the 1930s, it was considered evil, but now, it's just another means of relaxation along with beer, white wine and martinis. Some parents are even finding themselves in the awkward position of having to conceal marijuana use from their children, rather than let them see their role models breaking the law. ( Schools, of course, teach kids that marijuana is even more evil than cigarettes and the start of the slippery slope to drug addiction. )
So it was not exactly a shock to find out last week, after Britain announced it will decriminalize marijuana possession, that the minister responsible for law enforcement in Canada has broken the law and is thinking of changing it.
Cauchon and Prime Minister Jean Chretien both hinted last week that the decriminalization of marijuana use could happen here in the near future, too, although only last year the PM said it wasn't on the government's agenda.
Cauchon made it clear such action would have to wait for both Senate and House of Commons reports due later this year before any decision to yank simple possession of marijuana out of the Criminal Code and make it an offence punishable by a fine. There have been some signs the Commons committee is feeling positive about decriminalization. Even committee member Randy White, a Canadian Alliance MP who travelled to Amsterdam to observe a marijuana-tolerant society, said he visited a pot cafe and had a good time chatting with its clients. ( He didn't try it himself, but let's face it, a pot cafe is liable to have a real problem with second-hand smoke. )
After much hemming and hawing, this time the marijuana law appears to finally be on the government's agenda.
Stumbling Block
There's only one big stumbling block - America and its never-ending war on drugs. They're mad at us already for allowing medicinal pot use and they'll be furious at decriminalization.
"We have great respect for Canada and Britain as well, and if they start shifting policies with regards to marijuana it simply increases the rumblings in this country that we ought to re-examine our policy," said Drug Enforcement Administration head Asa Hutchinson last week. "It is a distraction from a firm policy on drug use."
Only last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld marijuana as a dangerous drug with a high potential for abuse. The court ruled marijuana should remain classified as a Schedule 1 drug, the most restrictive classification under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act.
I hope we don't give in to the U.S. attitude, but if it were up to me, I'd go even further than our government apparently intends to. I'd do more than decriminalize the stuff. I'd make it legal to own and to grow. I'd tax the heck out of it and put it on the shelf at the LCBO next to the vodka.
At a single stroke, you'd be doing away with a source of income for organized crime and creating a useful agricultural crop that heaven only knows is easy to cultivate in southern Ontario.
You'd be able to tell police to stop wasting time and money flying around the countryside spotting pot crops in the midst of corn fields from a helicopter and go do some useful work - like putting patrol cars on the 401 in significant numbers, for example.
You'd be freeing young Canadians from the possibility of obtaining a criminal record that will prevent them from leaving the country and could hang over their lives forever.
There are a lot of issues that are way more important than marijuana in Canada today. But this is one issue we can do something about. Over the years, we've discussed it almost to death. It's time to stop talking about it and go ahead.
Ahem. Not everybody did. HS graduate 1974.
No, not everyone but then when you play in the mud you assume everyone is dirty also
Increase the spending on the WOD, life sentences, and more cops til we get eceryone sober.
We can make this a better brave, new world. With video cameras and by deputizing everyone, we can get everyone to do right.
No, not everyone but then when you play in the mud you assume everyone is dirty also
Yes anyone is certainly a generalization as your testimony indicates. What do you suppose the percentage breakdown is? Of those that did between then and now and those that didn't?
Play in the mud? Whatever do you mean? Slamming farmers, are ye? Thems fighting words. Don't send no revenuer over here after my marihuanna crop. But my still's out back complete with this year's Gov't approved registration sticker!
I never smoked it. And in college, a lot of kids smoked it because they made fun of you if you didn't do it.
And so what? Marijuana hasn't changed...
Untrue. The marijuana of the 1990's is much much stronger than that used in the 1970s. That's why we see so many teen addicts who actually go thru withdrawal during rehab.
Some parents are even finding themselves in the awkward position of having to conceal marijuana use from their children, rather than let them see their role models breaking the law.
Of course, they could actually take seriously the fact that they are parents, and not get high, but obviously that would be too hard. just like these parents are often on their second or third marriages, breaking up when the marriage becomes too hard, or forcing their teen aged daughters who follow in their parents self indulgent footsteps to abort, since raising a grandkid would be too hard...
Damn right, buuurrrrppp! oops, sorry, just got done swilling a couple pitchers o' beer with my conservative friends haaaacchhkk! oops again, cigareete attack. Beeeeaallchhh! Hoooohh boy, thank God I can still eat fatty burgers with my fat assed conservative friends, Joey keeled over with a heart attack yesterday. Good old Joey, never did any doper stuff, maybe someone should have outlawed milk shakes instead. Thank God I don't play in the mud like those evil libertine sorts.
You stink if you don't group think!
Who cares? I wouldn't let Canadia influence US laws, so why should they let us influence theirs? Sovereignty is still a very valid concept.
ROFLMAO, Boy did you bring back some memories with that! Not of me though.:)
Bizarre little statement. No less so for being a fairly common sentiment.
If marijuana is harmless, why tax it differently than bread? If harmful why legalize it?
I think the obvious answer is that marijuana may not be terribly harmful (at least that's the legalizers' position), but it certainly is addictive. Legalizing it will produce great tax revenue because, to the addicts at least, it is a necessity. Regardless of the tax burden they must continue to buy.
Seems to me more of an indictment of the morality of "sin" taxes (those on alcohol, tobacco, and gambling), rather than an endorsement of anything regarding marijuana.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.