We cannot keep putting our heads in the sand on outdated marijuana policy. Manitoba United will be up front about reforming the archaic rules which cause a lot of otherwise normal people to participate in a black market which enriches criminal organizations and funds more destructive activities.
Everybody knows this is controversial but it is time to get our heads out of the sand. It was not that many years ago when we had arguments in our society about the prohibition of alcohol. What changed it was that the public got tired of living a lie and the government got jealous of all the money lost from bootleggers profiteering. Alcohol and cigarettes and gambling and even prostitution in some places are a lot more damaging than smoking, eating or drinking cannabis so it is not really about keeping an evil substance away from innocent people. If governments truly cared about health or safety they would ban both alcohol and cigarettes. But they don’t. It is about money. Governments do not want to artificially create a black market where the revenue from that market is used to further additional and much more serious criminal behaviour.
ReplyDeleteFor a guy who does not even smoke cigarettes let alone cannabis to produce a synopsis on liberalizing marijuana law is a bit of a stretch but here we go.
First of all the Province does not have any power to change the criminal code. That is a Federal issue. The Province can however do three things. First it can decide to refuse policing resources to enforce any kind of possession.
Second it can lobby the Feds to change the rules and probably it would be wise to not be the first province to come out of the closet but to be a close second. And don’t wait for B.C. to lead. There is such a big contribution to their rural economy that they will never want it decriminalized.
Third it can devise a model that works. This product should be raised privately under Provincial license, bought completely with no leakage by the Province and retailed through liquor stores. It should be taxed and priced cheap enough to drive the underground providers out of business and it should be available in a series of qualities from fair to fantastic to make sure that underground sellers also cannot compete on quality. Any profits obtained in the process should be diverted away from general revenue to dedicated support for addition treatment on more serious drugs.
That is the basis of it. In Winnipeg there is a serious problem with gangs and violence, which everyone abhors. Knowing that this kind of policy change, although controversial will make a difference in the core funding of the activities of those types of criminal organizations, it is very difficult not to be in favour of it.