CLEAR THE AIR AROUND POT LAWS

Marijuana possession, for personal use, should be legal. Or else it
should be illegal. One or the other. At present Canadians are stuck
with a third policy that is unfair, confusing, and open to abuse:
Simple possession is kind of illegal, sometimes, depending.

On Thursday police in Montreal and Quebec City descended on five
"compassion clubs" that for months - years, in some cases - have been
flouting the law, selling marijuana to anyone equipped with a doctor's
note. At least one club seems to have been willing to settle for a
signed statement, witnessed by a notary, that that bearer had an
aching back.

The "compassion" part is mainly, but not all, marketing hype. Health
Canada accepts the notion of "medical marijuana" even though nobody
has been able to standardize doses. Those who truly can't get pain
relief any other way can buy government-produced product, or grow it
themselves, or designate a grower. The process is said to be too
bureaucratic for some. But we believe that genuine medical need covers
only a very small proportion of "club" customers. Such people could
ask their doctors for help with the Health Canada paperwork.

What's surprising about these raids is not that they took place, but
that they were so long delayed. Police, and all levels of government,
have long known about these stores. In at least the Lachine case,
neighbours have expressed concern and noted the number of
healthylooking young customers. None of these shops even claimed to
have a Health Canada licence - and yet the commerce flourished, price
lists in the window and all.

The underlying problem is that nobody wants to enforce the marijuana
laws we have, but there is no political zest to reform them. The
result has been slipshod and erratic enforcement, which confuses
people, opens the way for abuse of discretion, and ultimately brings
the law into disrepute.

Marijuana is not quite as pervasive - we think - as alcohol was in the
U.S. during Prohibition (1920-33). But the compassion clubs do seem to
be the descendants, so to speak, of speakeasies, blind pigs, and the
like. When there's no will to enforce, a law becomes a joke.

In 2002, a House of Commons special committee said existing criminal
penalties for possessing and using marijuana in small amounts - in
theory up to a $1,000 fine and/or six months in jail - were too harsh.
That committee called for decriminalization. But that approach, too,
would leave something to be desired. Where do these possessors of
small amounts get their supply? Would it be legal to buy, but illegal
to sell? What about producing the stuff, or importing it? Hypocrisy is
built into decriminalization.

It's time for an honest national debate about marijuana legalization.
Laws that are only selectively enforced can do more harm than good.