A Letter from Canadian Citizen:
About Marijuana Decriminalization
By Paul M. from BC, Canada, for TheWorldJournal.com
Mr. Paul M. from Abbotsford, BC, Canada, has composed
this letter about marijuana decriminalization, which he invited us to
print. Without further comments - here it is. In full.
Young adults make their own choices, and we all want to help them make the
right ones. But what if, despite your best child rearing efforts, you
learn that your eighteen-year-old daughter has been arrested for marijuana
possession? What if she has been using it frequently, or discreetly
selling it to consenting friends and acquaintances for pocket money and
social status? No harm was intended, and the activity was welcomed by her
peers. What would you consider most helpful: counseling, a fine, prison, a
criminal record, or no punishment at all?
Under present laws, a criminal record would be likely. But that would not
help her achieve a drug-free lifestyle. She would be better served by the
sort of counseling commonly used to help alcoholics. In her case, and in
general, a criminal record will cause more harm than good. That is one
good reason why Canada should decriminalize marijuana.
Unfortunately, President Bush's administration wants to prevent this,
arguing that decriminalization in Canada will increase the flow of
Canadian marijuana into the USA. But this seems unlikely: Our present
marijuana laws are already largely ignored, so why would relaxing them
result in any change in the amount of marijuana available? There is no
basis for Bush's claim, and he himself must know that. What must really
concern him is that if our experiment with decriminalization succeeds, it
will underscore the embarrassing failure of his own drug policy, and will
increase pressure for decriminalization in the USA.
Bush's marijuana policy is fatally flawed, because even if he could
completely eradicate the supply of pot, Americans would use other
substances to get high. Take Japan, for example: There, marijuana has been
scarce, and young people have instead resorted to sniffing solvents and
using amphetamines. Evidently, eliminating the supply of marijuana can
actually encourage more dangerous practices!
This is because supply is merely the servant of demand. Consumer demand is
what really drives the marijuana trade. As long as people want to get
high, the potential profits will encourage marijuana cultivation.
Accordingly, Bush should recognize that Canadian marijuana cultivation is
fuelled principally by the enormous American demand for the drug. If the
demand were eliminated, the supply would dry up.
Making Canada a scapegoat will not solve anything, so Bush should stop
blaming us, and stop meddling in our domestic politics. We have cooperated
loyally with his hopeless drug war far too long. Every year, Canada spends
half a billion tax dollars to enforce marijuana laws, yet pot is as easy
to obtain as ever. We simply can no longer afford the high financial and
human cost, senselessly criminalizing so many of our young people, with no
positive result.
A criminal record only makes it more difficult for a marijuana user to
reform, by seriously limiting employment and career opportunities. No one
should have their life ruined with such a severe social stigma simply
because they have committed a minor drug offense, especially when so many
others committing the same offense are never caught, and may go on to hold
high positions in business, education, and government. The unlucky ones
who do get criminalized may be effectively prevented from fully
contributing their talents to society for the remainder of their lives,
which is a loss for us all.
If George Bush himself had not been so well-protected by family money and
political connections, and instead had been justly punished with the
criminal record that he apparently deserved for the alleged reckless
behavior and cocaine use of his youth, then he would never have become
President of the USA! How then can Bush, in good conscience, demand the
continued criminalization of Canadian young people - for behavior less
offensive than what he himself got away with? His stance is brazenly
hypocritical!
We Canadians know that our expensive, divisive, civil war against drugs
can never be won. Our wishful thinking that prohibition could eliminate
marijuana use has only fooled us into grossly underestimating the vast
resources actually needed. Thus, enforcement has been ineffectual -
sufficient only to bolster the price of marijuana, without significantly
controlling supply, and doing little to curb demand. Ironically, by
supporting marijuana prices, we are allowing criminal gangs to reap huge
profits, and evolve into powerful drug cartels, bringing weapons, violence
and lawlessness to our communities.
We must stop this hopeless war that is draining our prosperity and tearing
at our social fabric. We must stop oppressing our own youth with unjustly
harsh laws, and advocating a spirit of mistrust that pits one suspicious
neighbor against another. Let's reform our marijuana laws now, and deal
with this issue sensibly and realistically, for the benefit of everyone!
Let's ask Canada's politicians not for self-righteous posturing on the
safest moral high ground, but instead for imagination, courage, and
leadership, as we struggle to turn this new page of hope.
Please note: I am a non-smoking, non-drinking, law-abiding Canadian
citizen. My two school-aged children are drug-free, and I do not advocate
recreational marijuana use.
© February 27, 2003
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