Marijuana use makes case for decriminalization
Canadian Press
TORONTO -- A new study shows Canadians surpass Americans and even the Dutch when it comes to trying marijuana, but drug policy experts say it's not a cause for concern.
The UN's 2007 World Drug Report found 16.8 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 15 and 64 used pot in 2004 - the highest rate among developed nations. The report studied the prevalence of marijuana use in 2005 or the latest year for which data were available.
By comparison, 12.6 per cent of American respondents said they have tried pot. Britain (8.7), France (8.6), Germany (6.9), and especially Japan (0.1) all reported much lower rates than Canada.
But Benedikt Fischer, a drug policy expert with the University of Victoria, said the UN report is flawed since it didn't examine patterns of use.
"From a public health point of view or consequence point of view, these numbers are fairly meaningless," Fischer said.
"We want to know how many of those people use marijuana in a highly frequent way, how many of them have problems related to marijuana use and, thirdly, what are the social harms?"
Fischer added that the numbers aren't surprising, and haven't changed much from previous studies.
York University law professor Alan Young, who launched a constitutional challenge to Canada's marijuana laws in 1997, said the UN findings could have been distorted by the willingness of Canadians to openly discuss their drug use.
"We have magazines that celebrate cannabis culture in this country, we have conventions and conferences and rallies and concerts," he said.
"It's become a large part of youth culture in Canada, and more importantly, 50 per cent of marijuana smokers are over the age of 30. So it's really gone to all age groups, all class groups. There's no question about it that there is less stigma in Canada."
Young said the report's finding that pot use among Ontario high school students dropped from 30.3 per cent in 2003 to 24.4 per cent in 2005 is simply a "blip" in a larger trend of increasing rates of use.
"The one thing that remains constant is Canadian young people are consuming marijuana at a rate much higher than anywhere else in the western world," he said.
Eugene Oscapella, an Ottawa-based lawyer who specializes in drug policy issues, said the UN report shows that the legal status of marijuana in a given country seems to have little bearing on consumption rates.
The report found that only 6.1 per cent of people in the Netherlands, where marijuana use has effectively been decriminalized, reported trying pot.
This shows decriminalization has no bearing on rates of use, and Canada shouldn't be so afraid to follow the Dutch lead, Oscapella said.
"The criminal law does not prevent people from using marijuana, nor does legalization force people to use it," he said.
Jean Chretien's Liberals first introduced a bill to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana in 2003, but it was never brought to a final vote. Stephen Harper's Conservatives killed the bill when they came to office in January 2006.
Oscapella added that Canada should be focusing its resources on the root causes of drug abuse, rather than persecuting people for possession.
"It is a health and a social issue," he said. "The criminal law is not the appropriate mechanism for dealing with drugs in the vast majority of cases."
The four countries that ranked ahead of Canada for marijuana use were Papua New Guinea (29.5 per cent), Micronesia (29.1), Ghana (21.5) and Zambia (17.7).
Canadians reported relatively low rates of use for harder drugs such as amphetamines and ecstasy.
A judge in the province of Ontario, Canada dismissed marijuana possession charges against a Toronto man, ruling that Canada's laws governing possession are unconstitutional. 

The unidentified defendant, 29, had been charged with possession after police had found him carrying 3.5 grams of marijuana.

Since July 30, 2001, Canada has allowed a medical exemption for the possession and growing of marijuana, under Health Canada's ''Marijuana Medical Access Regulations''. The regulations describe eligible persons as those "suffering from grave and debilitating illnesses." Canada contracts a company, Prairie Plant Systems, to cultivate and package seeds and/or dried marijuana for shipping of a monthly supply to eligible patients. A packet of 30 seeds costs CA$20, plus taxes. Dried marijuana costs patients CA$150 for 30 grams (slightly more than one ounce).
Marijuana (''Cannabis sativa''). 
The defendant in the legal case was not suffering from an illness and was not in need of an exemption from the possession laws. The man put forth a defence that questioned the legality of the medical exemption since it was only a regulation, not a law. He argued that all possession laws, therefore, should be struck down.

The judge presiding over the case, Howard Borenstein, agreed with the argument. "The government told the public not to worry about access to marijuana," said Judge Borenstein. "They have a policy but not law. In my view that is unconstitutional."

The defendant's lawyer, Brian McAllister, felt that the ruling may have significant consequences  for possession laws throughout the province. "Obviously, there's thousands of people that get charged with this offence every year," said McAllister. He suggested that Ontario residents can cite the new ruling as a defence for possession charges. "That's probably why the government will likely appeal the decision," he said.

Judge Borenstein will make his ruling official in two weeks time. Prosecutors in the case have said that they will appeal the decision soon.

In related news, a Liberal senator from the province of British Columbia, Larry Campbell, said Wednesday that the federal government should decriminalize marijuana and "tax the hell out of it,". He said the government should use the revenue for health care priorities. Sales should be controlled by government, he stated, in the same way that alcohol is sold. He noted that organized crime is pulling in large profits on the growing and sale of the drug. 

Senator Campbell also suggested that too many resources are placed on the criminal prosecution of people for possession of small amounts of marijuana. "This is not a drug that causes criminality," he said. "People are getting criminal records for essentially nothing."

A recent UN survey, the 2007 World Drug Report, has determined that marijuana use in Canada is the highest among developed nations. Some 16.8 percent of Canadians between the ages of 15 and 64 used marijuana in 2004, compared to 12.6 percent of Americans, 8.7 percent for Britain, 8.6 percent for France, 6.9 percent for Germany, and 0.1 percent of Japanese.

York University law professor Alan Young, said the report's numbers may be skewed higher for Canadians due to the willingness of Canadians to discuss the issue. "It's become a large part of youth culture in Canada, and more importantly, 50 percent of marijuana smokers are over the age of 30," he said. "So it's really gone to all age groups, all class groups. There's no question about it that there is less stigma in Canada."

Only four other countries ranked ahead of Canada on marijuana use: Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, Ghana, and Zambia.

The UN data for harder drugs such as amphetamines and ecstasy showed relatively low use among Canadians.