B.C. medical group urges legalization of marijuana

VANCOUVER — Some B.C. medical health officials are advocating for the
legalization of marijuana, arguing that the government’s costly enforcement
activities are making little difference.

The Health Officers’ Council of B.C., which represents B.C.’S medical health
officers and other physicians, researchers and consultants, is endorsing a
report being released today that suggests a direct link between the province’s
$7-billion illegal cannabis industry and the increase in gang-related
homicides in B.C. from 1997 to 2009.

The report, based on Canadian and U.S. data, finds that Canada’s
anti-marijuana enforcement strategies are failing to keep pot out of the
hands of teens, who said it is relatively easy to locate a supplier willing
to sell them a bag of the increasingly potent grass.

The report has been compiled by Stop the Violence B.C., a coalition of B.C.
law enforcement officials, health experts and academics advocating marijuana
law reform.

Geared toward “debunking” the government’s argument that current antidrug
measures are working, the report, titled “How not to protect health and
safety: What the government’s own data say about the effects of cannabis
prohibition,” assesses the effects of both U.S. and Canadian anti-drug
funding on marijuana supply, potency and use.

The report said that despite expenditure of an estimated $260 million in
drug-law enforcement since 2007, pot smoking among Canadian youth (defined
as being 15 to 24 years old) increased considerably since the 1990s.

In B.C., 27 per cent of youth said they had smoked pot “at least once” in
the past year, according to a 2009 study cited in the report.

This compares to the 20 per cent of Ontario high school students who
responded “Yes” to the same question in 2009, a doubling of the 10 per cent
who did so in 1991.

Dr. Evan Wood, a Vancouver physician and founder of Stop the Violence B.C.,
said the report provides a strong argument against the federal government’s
current “blanket prohibition” policy on pot, which he said has contributed
to a “range of serious unintended consequences in terms of organized crime
and gang violence.”

“By every metric, this policy is failing to meet its objectives,” Wood said.
“Why wouldn’t we [look at a regulating model] when we know that what we are
doing now is both ineffective and harmful?”

Newshawk: Herb
Pubdate: 22 Dec 2011
Webpage:
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/medical+group+urges+legalization+marij...
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
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Address: P.O. Box 300, Victoria, B.C. V8W 2N4
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Copyright: 2011 Times Colonist
Author: Cassidy Olivier
Page: A6
Cited: Stop the Violence BC: http://stoptheviolencebc.org/