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Cannabis is part of our Canadian culture
By Hempology | September 12, 2007
Winnipeg Free Press, MB
10 Sep 2007
EVERYONE’S DOING IT
A new study that found Canadian teens smoke more pot than cigarettes didn’t seem to surprise anyone — not addiction experts, not parents, not police and not educators. The only people with their heads in the sand on the issue are political leaders, who seem to fear that modernizing the laws on cannabis might lead to reefer madness and ultimately the collapse of western civilization. More likely, they fear it will cost them votes, but that concern should wane as today’s young people evolve into voters.
The study by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse said marijuana smoking has been on the rise among teenagers, while cigarette use is declining. In other words, society has succeeded in damping demand for the legal product through strict regulation, taxation and education, while failing to have any impact on use of the illegal, unregulated product.
It’s time to bring marijuana out of the darkness so that it, too, can be subject to a variety of regulations and standards. That’s not an endorsement of marijuana use. It merely recognizes that the drug has become part of our culture and, as such, its use should be normalized. Too many good young people have already been saddled with criminal records and the courts have better things to do with their time.
The former Liberal government of Paul Martin had tabled a motion before Parliament to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use. It was a start, but, regrettably, the present Conservative government abandoned the bill, presumably for political reasons, rather than reasons of health and safety.
But with nearly 50 per cent of 18- and 19-year-olds smoking marijuana, old-fashioned political concerns no longer seem valid. Indeed, open contempt for the law against marijuana now seems contagious. A law that nobody wants can only make legislators and police look foolish in the end, while undermining respect for the law in general.
Armed with new information, Prime Minister Stephen Harper should reopen a dialogue on the issue of decriminalization. He might just find it is one of the few issues where all-party agreement is possible. Everyone could relate to that.
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