CANDIDATES TALK MARIJUANA

From Outright Legalization to Reducing Possession to a Fine, Hear
What the Local Candidates Have to Say

PETERBOROUGH - Frustrated, on Sept. 16, Jennifer Collett decided to
walk from Peterborough to Queen's Park in Toronto to make people more
aware the issues facing those using medicinal marijuana.

"I walked 141 kilometres," she says.

Other than a meal and a coffee a day during the four-day trek, the
Peterborough woman consumed marijuana-based medication for most of
her sustenance.

She sees hope in some of the barriers facing medical marijuana use
changing but she says big pharmaceutical companies are starting to
get involved. She worries that this will drive up prices and make it
difficult for people to grow their own.

There are many organizations dedicated to the cause, she says, noting
her walk helped draw them together.

She also hopes to show that many medicinal marijuana users are not
simply people trying to get stoned but professionals in the community
using a natural medicine.

She didn't initially plan her walk to coincide with the provincial
election but she's hoping to draw some attention from the candidates.

"We are not cared about," she says.

Police are ordered to enforce the law, she says, which means changes
need to start with the lawmakers.

Green Party candidate Gary Beamish is ready to make some changes.

He spent 11 years caring for his son as he died of cancer. At age 5,
Mr. Beamish says his son was prescribed medicinal marijuana.

He'd like to see the substance outright legalized.

A tax consultant, he says a client and former biker told him a grow
operation could be set up for about $67,000 and cover that cost every
three months, tax-free. By prohibiting it, he says it's making
organized crime rich and putting people at risk who use it since the
product may be tampered with.

In the Netherlands, a place where marijuana is legal, he says they
have closed jails like we close schools.

Plus, he says, those who treat their pain with alcohol or mainstream
prescription drugs often look far worse down the road than marijuana users.

Perhaps the LCBO, he says with a laugh, will have to add an "M" into
their acronym in the future.

"It's a big source of revenue," he adds.

Liberal incumbent Jeff Leal acknowledges the medicinal use of
marijuana but says most of it is covered by federal rules. He says
the government relies on the judgment of doctors.

Progressive Conservative candidate Alan Wilson would also leave it up
to doctors to decide the medical merits.

An election is not the time to make laws, he says, but when it's
over, it will be a time to have a serious discussion on the subject.

It's not unreasonable, he adds, to make access to marijuana the same
as any other prescription drug. It's also not unreasonable to compare
it to alcohol, he states.

He does disagree with Mr. Beamish's take on the scene in the
Netherlands, where he says they have just as bad a drug problem as here.

Ideally, he'd like to see minor possession and minor trafficking
possession to simply result in a fine, focusing the big sentences on
the organized criminals getting youth hooked.

"Marijuana does kill brain cells," he adds.

NDP candidate Dave Nickle was not available for comment.