Marijuana.com

Lit_Match

Quit making criminals out of pot smokers
07-14-07|The Intelligencer|Editorial

It's hard to believe, but nearly half of all Canadians have committed a criminal offence.

Fortunately, however, only about 600,000 of the 15-million plus have criminal records. We say 'fortunately' because the criminal offence they have committed is largely harmless - so harmless, in fact, that some police officers can't be bothered making an arrest and laying charges when they happen upon the crime in progress.

That crime is possession of cannabis, or marijuana. Section 4 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act sets out a maximum six-month prison sentence and a $1,000 fine for anyone caught with 30 grams of marijuana or less.

Imagine how full our jails would be and how much those fines would total if police cracked down on the estimated nearly half of all Canadians who have ever possessed and/or smoked the weed. Imagine, too, how difficult it would be for half the population of the country to find work with a criminal record, or to travel abroad.


That's why we argue it's 'fortunate' that only about 600,000 Canadians have criminal records as a result of their consumption, experimentation, or even flirtation with pot.

But this is not to argue in support of the legalization of marijuana. The country isn't ready for that step and all the complications it would entail - from impaired driving to supporting criminal groups who grow and sell it, to its abuse by youth.

Rather, what the federal government should do is decriminalize small amounts of marijuana, in favour of fines similar to a traffic offence rather than facing a criminal trial, as the Liberal government of Jean Chretien proposed in 2003. At that time, every party in the House of Commons except the Conservatives supported a bill to do just that, but the Liberals never brought the bill to a vote - Chretien's government was a tad busy at the time with the forces of Paul Martin who were anxious to put their man in the PM's chair and with a little controversy involving federal sponsorships in Quebec that had yet to blow wide open.

While the Liberal government's bill was never resurrected and passed into law, it stood no chance of becoming law with the election of the Harper government on Jan. 23, 2006. And that, apparently, is why the number of people arrested for smoking or possessing pot rose dramatically across the country last year.

While official numbers have yet to be released, preliminary figures obtained by The Canadian Press from interviews with municipal police forces and through Access to Information Act requests suggest the number of arrests jumped by more than 33 per cent in several Canadian cities. As a result, thousands of people have been branded as criminals for an offence that was almost abolished, an offence that, as noted earlier, almost half of all Canadians have committed. Several police officials said the increase in charges is linked directly to the earlier Liberal legislation.

Terry McLaren, president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, said many forces simply stopped laying charges after the Liberals first introduced the decriminalization bill in 2003. "Everybody was waiting for what was going to happen," he said. "There'd be no use clogging up the court system with that decriminalization bill there.

"When that was defeated, I'd say it was business as usual."

Business as usual, however, continues to clog our court systems and to distract police from more-important pursuits.

Decriminalization for possession of small amounts of pot won't eliminate the ongoing problems associated with its use that we noted earlier. But it would stop making criminals out of average Canadians and free up the resources to address those problems.

 

TehUberGeeK

What?!?! Legalizing marijuana wouldn't make drugged driving legal. And won't criminal groups and youth drug use be more prevalent if decriminalized?

Buzzby

It would still be illegal to drive while impaired and they should be a lot more worried about people driving under the influence of the ubiquitous Canadian beer.

If cannabis became legal, there is no reason to expect that it would be produced and distributed by criminal groups. It would, in fact, drive these people out of business by providing consumers with consistently good weed at non-black-market prices.

If 90% of US high school seniors find that it is easier to get marijuana than alcohol or tobacco, it must be close to 100% for Canadian kids. Black market dealers don't card. Licensed dealers would. This would make marijuana less available to minors.

This would be a plus for the court system and the jails, but would do nothing to address the issues of impaired driving, support of criminal groups, or abuse by youth.

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DarkPhoenix

He Wasnt Saying Drugged Driving Would Be Legal He Was Only Trying To Say If Canada Legalized Marijuana, Canada Would Have to Face The Many Problems, For Example Drugged Driving... The Result Of Legalization Or Even Decriminalization Would Increase Drugged Driving....No Matter How Easy It Is To Find Up Here In Canada........People Will Just Get The Impression It Is More Acceptable In Society And Will Try To Take Advantage Of The Situation....And Ubiquitous Canadian Beer Oh HAHA I Forgot Our Beer Is More Potent...

Were Talking About Legalization Here Not Regulating Marijuana Into Stores As If We Would With Ciggerettes Or Alcohol... Legalization Would Drive The "Criminal Groups" To Grow More Because Their Would Be More Of An Open Demand... And Open Demand Meaning That People Arnt Going To Be As "Hush Hush" As We Are Now... If Legalized More People Would Be Open To Trying It Marijuana...(Many Of My Friends Wont Try It Just Cause Of Its Illegal Status). Therefore Were Going To Need More Grow Ops Then Their Is Now.....UNLESS.... It Was Regulated, Then Adults Wouldnt Have A Problem Buying It From The Corner Store........BUT That Runs Into More Issues That We Face With Alcohol And Tobacoo... People Will Always Buy Alcohol And Tobacoo For Teens... The Same Would Be For Marijuana..... Im Sure The Canadian Government Has Thought About It Hundreads Of Times And Has A Full List Of Pros And Cons.... But Whos To Say The American Government Isnt Pushing Their Power On The Canadian Government To Keep It Illegal...For Obvious Reasons Of; It Would Be Much Easier To Smuggle It Into America, And Border Security Would Once Again Have To Be Tightened.

I Would Agree It Would Make It Less Available To Minors If Regulated... But Then We Get People Who Abuse The System... And Are Willing To By Illegal Products For Minors At A Fee Or A Favor... But Their Would Still Be A Black Market For Marijuana If It Were Regulated... Cause The Government Is Going To Give Us Any Good Weed For Awhile... Leaving The Black Market Open And More Expensive (For The Good Sh*t)


Theirs Always A Plus For The Courts When It Comes To Things Like This... But Theirs Only A Minimum That The Courts Can Do, You Can Fine Them Or Take Em To Jail, But The Jails Are Getting To Crowded For Something So Harmless... The Only Other Thing You Can Do Is Fine Them As If You Were Caught Drinking In Public Or Something Along Those Lines.... Unfortunatly Their Arnt Ways Of Finding Out If Someone Is Under The Influences Of Certain Drugs When It Comes To Impaired Driving...Unless Its Quite Obvious.... SOOO MANY PROS AND CONS OF THE LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA.....DO NOT EXPECT IT ANYTIME SOON...NOT WITH FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS TRYING TO TELL US HOW TO RUN OUR COUNTRY...... Well That Was My Two Cents...Not Trying To Stir Things Up Between Canadians Or Americans... I Know Alot Of Great Americans, Its Just The government I Choose Not Too Like... Oh Its Been Almost A Year Since I Posted On Here Good To Be Back!

__________________
So is this what they call another endless night? Im tired of believing if this is wrong or right...I think this cause is lost. I wish that i could sleep,I feel like some kind of shadow,Another slave to the weak. Imagine if we lived under the weather, We would never be found never discoverd. If everything goes wrong, If theirs one more endless night you know thier always tomorrow........ - Alexisonfire

Buzzby

I'd love to read your post but all that capitalization gives me a headache. What's with that? Beginnings of sentences, proper nouns, some words requiring emphasis... Capitalizing every word is simply annoying.

 

DarkPhoenix

Hahahah sorry man i was really high and i was just trying to see how long i could keep on going with the capitlization before i screwed up.....the good news is i made it all the way through without screwing up