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05/19/2003: "US CA: Column: Canada's Reefer Sanity"

Headline Courtesy of DrugNews Digest, MAP Inc

Copyright: 2003 Hearst Communications Inc. 
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Joan Ryan


CANADA'S REEFER SANITY

SOMETIME in the near future, if a bill in the Canadian Parliament passes as expected, you won't be arrested any longer in Canada for having a few joints in your pocket or a few cannabis plants in the basement. You'll pay a fine and that's it -- no criminal record to explain to a new employer, no missed mortgage payments while you watch "All My Children" in the prison lounge with guys named Tiny and Red.

Canada is about to decriminalize marijuana throughout its provinces. Prime Minister Jean Chretien fully supports the move. Drug arrests, prosecutions and imprisonments cost his country about $400 million a year -- the majority for marijuana possession. The United States, by some estimates, spends $17.5 billion a year policing and prosecuting drug users and dealers.

cont'd @ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/05/16/ED119847.DTL