January 7, 2003
Kamloops Daily News



Marijuana will be decriminalized in an unexpected way.
Unexpected, but not unforeseen.  It will come as a surprise
to many Canadians but marijuana possession has already been
virtually decriminalized in Ontario unless the feds do
something.

It all started in July of 2000 when the Ontario Court of
Appeal struck down a federal law prohibiting the possession
of less than 30 grams of marijuana. The court ruled that the
legislation violated the rights of sick people who use pot
for medical reasons. The case centered on a Toronto
epileptic, Terry Parker, who uses cannabis to ease his
condition.

At the time, law professor Alan Young predicted that unless
the federal government closed the loophole that marijuana
possession would become legal by default.

All the Government of Canada had to do was nothing.  He
predicted that the law would be similarly challenged in
other provinces and eventually possession of small amounts
of marijuana would be legal - - simply because it's not
illegal.

That's the way that abortions became legalized in Canada.
When the supreme court struck down the laws that
criminalized abortions the federal government did nothing,
and viola, abortions were legal.

So, what have the feds done since 2000 to prevent
decriminalization in Ontario?  Almost nothing.  They did
enact Marijuana Medical Access Regulations which went into
effect July 31 of last year.  But the although the new rules
address the medical use of marijuana, they don't address its
recreational use.

Young's prediction seems to be coming true. On January 2 of
this year, the law was challenged again.  A different
Ontario judge came to the same conclusion as the first.
Justice Douglas Phillips dismissed two drug charges against
a 16-year-old local boy.

"Parliament has failed to address problems with Canada's
marijuana laws," Phillips said in his ruling.  Another step
towards decriminalized in Ontario.

Then a week later, the same thing.  This case involved a
Toronto man who was stopped by police while driving a
motorcycle downtown last summer. Police found the butts of
two marijuana joints on him, and charged the man with
possessing less than a gram of marijuana.

The second court agreed with the first. The defence lawyer
successfully argued that if Canadians can legally possess
pot for medical reasons, then criminalization of possession
for all Canadian is inconsistent and invalid.  It's "another
stake in the heart of marijuana laws," said defence lawyer
Aaron Harnett.  The trend grows.

The more the feds delay, the more I wonder if this isn't a
strategy of the federal government.  Governments are not
suspicious when they do nothing.   If marijuana becomes
decriminalized, the feds can shrug and say "we didn't do
anything."

Most Canadians have consistently supported decriminalization
of small amounts of marijuana for decades.  In May of 2000,
a survey done for Compas research found that 65 per cent of
Canadians favoured decriminalization and 22 per cent
opposed.  Politicians have been consistently in favour
decades as well.

In 1978, I wrote Prime Minister Trudeau and opposition
leader Joe Clark for their opinions. Trudeau wrote back that
"In 1974, we initiated in the Senate a cannabis bill, Bill
S-19."  Conveniently, the bill died on the order paper
before Parliament ended.

Clark replied "I my view, a drug education programme would
be far more beneficial and economical in attacking the
problem than using law enforcement agencies and the courts."

So, the response to Robert Koopman's editorial against
relaxation of marijuana laws (Why Add To Woes By Legalizing
Pot? Dec. 29) in The Daily News was quite predictable.  A.C.
Brumell said in his letter to the editor "Decriminalizing
would also release huge law enforcement resources so that
they could be used for other purposes, such as prosecuting
all those newly criminal gun owners" (Decriminalizing Will
Scare Away Organized Crime, January 3, 2003).

If so many Canadians have been so much in favour of
decriminalization for so long, why hasn't it happened?  Look
south.  Uncle Sam wouldn't like it, that's why.

"Canada's softening stance on marijuana and hard drugs will
provoke a backlash in the U.S. Congress that would lead to
harsher border measures on Canadian travelers and cause
serious economic consequences for the economy" warned
Stockwell Day, the Canadian Alliance foreign affairs critic.

Are we afraid of the U.S.?  No!  What will the government
have to do to decriminalize marijuana?  Nothing.

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