WILL DECRIMINALIZING MARIJUANA CAUSE THE COUNTRY TO GO TO POT?

Twenty years ago I was vacationing in Jamaica and enjoying it immensely. At
one point, we hired a van and driver to see the more remote areas of the
country. The beauty was unbelievable.

We did notice quite a bit of land that had been cultivated at one time but
was overgrown. When we asked our guide, who appeared to be about
80-years-old, why this was so, he responded that it was difficult to get
people to work. He said that "that Ganja (marijuana) make a lot of young
men no good."

That statement has stuck with me for a long time, and comes again to mind
as the Canadian senate discusses the liberalization of marijuana laws. In
fact, it appears that legislation will be introduced next year that will
decriminalize the recreational use of the weed for smaller quantities.

I think I would be considered fairly liberal towards marijuana use. I can
understand why many consider that the use of the drug should not cause you
to become a registered criminal.

But I do believe that there are consequences to this action that should be
considered in passing the legislation.

First, I believe that marijuana is addictive. Advocates argue that there is
no agent in the plant that causes a physical addiction to be formed. Maybe.
But I am convinced that there is a definite psychological addiction.

Take gambling. There is no chance of a physical addition to losing your pay
cheque to slot machines and driving you financially into the gutters of our
nation. It is just that the body requires this addictive high to make life
exciting and worthwhile. Pot creates a different high but one that is
equally addictive.

In the same way that obviously physically addictive drugs such as alcohol
and nicotine can change personality, grass can do the same.

It can cause you to live more within yourself. To be more withdrawn. It can
cause sudden mood changes. It can create the need for sugar in your system
satisfied through the consumption of large quantities of sugared soft
drinks. It can cause many subtle changes.

And you will never convince me that the desire of the weed before work or
class, or when a stressful situation arises, is not an indication of the
addictive properties of the drug.

But all that aside, that is not what the government is considering. It is
only eliminating the criminality of the use of the drug. The discussion of
whether it is or isn't addictive is moot, and will be discussed and argued
ad infinitum.

Decriminalization of marijuana will increase the use of the weed. To me,
that is a given. Taking away the deterrent will take away the fear in the
minds of some people. Marijuana use will go up.

So what will we do about that? Are we going to improve the technology so
that we can easily detect its use. Will we have breathalyzers that will
detect impaired drivers - impaired with grass? Will schools have access to
similar machines to use on students who are obviously high in class?

Is the government prepared to put money into treatment centres for those
who develop the addiction?

And will they increase enforcement budgets to go after the distributors of
the product? Drug enforcement is already a near impossible task. Take away
the lever of prosecution for possession and the hands of the drug police
are further tied. And at a 30 grams possession limit, pushers just have to
make more frequent trips to their stash to stay within the law.

Advocates of marijuana ridicule the notion that marijuana use leads to
harder drugs. There is absolutely no evidence to support this allegation,
they say.

But I believe that once you do a drug, you are more likely to try others. I
know I will never convince those who feel differently - nor will you change
my mind.

Locally, I understand that grass is almost passe. The drug of choice in
Kenora is cocaine or the more addictive crack cocaine. Because it is more
profitable and more addictive, it is more available and many marijuana
users have made the move upwards. Which way would I vote if the legislation
was presented today?

Probably in support of decriminalization, but with serious reservations. I
just don't think an 18-year-old busted for possession should have a
criminal record for life.

Which way will parliament go?

Probably the same.

Jim Blight, Publisher