Like many of my generation I smoked marijuana while at university. Unlike Justice Minister Martin Cauchon I stopped before it damaged my brain.
Though there are any number of legal issues plaguing Canada the one that the dopey Monsieur Cauchon is hastening to deal with is easing the access to marijuana. Apparently believing that the country has too few substance-abuse problems the minister is musing over plans to replace jail time with fines and allowing the herbally-hooked a hefty baggie full for personal use.
Here is a BBC report which should encourage Cauchon and others who inhaled too deeply to reconsider. According to Australian researchers who studied marijuana use in identical twins, those who smoked up before age 17 were two to five times more likely to use other drugs or to develop alcohol or drug abuse or dependence.
Instead of sending the signal that marijuana is a benign recreational choice our Justice Minister should be helping local governments deal with inner-city ethnic gangs, reining in out-of-control judicial activists and finding an answer to juvenile crime. Solving these problems is not as glamorous as being elected a life member of the Cheech and Chong Bong Brigade but it might pay off when the smoke clears.
Posted by at January 21, 2003 08:17 PM