On pot: the cannabis manifesto

Kevin Brandt
Contributor

A spectre is haunting Canada: cannabis.

Cannabis, or marijuana, is all around us. More Canadians use marijuana than residents in any other country in the world – about 16.8 percent of the population. Most students either use it or know someone that does, despite knowing it is an illegal drug in this country and that there could be legal repercussions for those caught possessing, growing or selling it.

While there are some who are legally allowed to have cannabis for medical purposes, critics nevertheless argue that smoking the plant could lead to addiction, other drug use, brain damage, or even psychosis.

These supposed symptoms are well-circulated, but cannabis is not really as harmful as critic argue it is. Should marijuana remain illegal?

There is a far lesser risk of cannabis addiction when compared to alcohol or tobacco. The book Marijuana Is Safer cites a New York Times article that reportedly states “pot’s addiction potential is no greater than caffeine.”

Cases in which a marijuana user may become hooked on a much harder narcotic exist; however, this could be due to marijuana’s prohibition. Because marijuana is illegal, potential consumers must make purchases via the black market– they must interact with potentially shady individuals.

The black market exposes cannabis users to harder drugs. If marijuana were legal, it would eliminate such exposure. Furthermore, there have been no conclusive medical studies to prove pot leads to brain damage or psychosis.

Of course, smoking anything is harmful to the lungs, but vaporizing – heating the plant, but not combusting it – is a less harmful alternative to smoking. Contrary to popular belief, marijuana does not have more cancer-causing agents than cigarettes.

About 40,000 Canadians die each year from tobacco-related illness, but there are zero deaths attributed to marijuana. About 8,000 Canadians die each year from alcohol-related deaths, including over 100 Canadians lost to alcohol poisoning, but marijuana has been proven to be non-toxic – in other words, a person cannot overdose on cannabis.

If marijuana isn’t as harmful as other legal drugs, then why is it illegal?

Our government wastes valuable resources arresting, prosecuting and jailing so-called “criminals” for simple marijuana possession– around $57 million per year. In- stead of addressing the issue of marijuana use, the police could focus on serious crimes.

We should tax the plant in the same manner we do alcohol or tobacco, and use the revenue for various provincial or federal projects. If the government handled marijuana, we’d be better assured it would stay out of the hands of minors. Drug dealers don’t check ID, but the government does.

Many licensed medicinal marijuana users complain about how difficult it is for them to acquire their medicine, though it seems high school students can buy pot without much difficulty. If anti-marijuana laws are in place to keep weed out of the hands of minors, then those laws have definitely failed.

Legalizing marijuana will benefit Canada: tax revenue will provide a much-needed boost to our economy, the sick will have an effective medicine, and shady drug dealers and the black market will take a bigger hit than our overworked police force could ever generate.

According to a Senate special committee, “public policy on psychoactive substances must be structured around guiding principles respecting the life, health, security and rights and freedoms of individuals who, naturally and legitimately, seek their own well-being and development and can recognize the presence, difference and equality of others.”

In other words, choice is a cornerstone of a liberal democracy, so we should be able to choose our method of insobriety. That same Senate special committee concluded their report by calling for the legalization of marijuana, a motion since ignored by the House of Commons. According to an Angus-Reid poll conducted in 2008, 53 percent of Canadians believe marijuana should be legalized. It’s about time our government finally listened to the wishes of its citizens and its Senate.

Let our old-fashioned government tremble at a cannabis revolution. Marijuana smokers of Canada, unite!