Canadian govt urged to legalise cannabis

A Canadian Parliament committee has called for legalising cannabis use by adults.

The report by the Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs released yesterday recommended that criminal records for possession of cannabis should be erased, with the nation adopting a system that regulates the drug in the same way that alcohol is regulated.

It also called for immediate action on permitting eligible medical patients to legally obtain the drug.

“There is no good reason to subject the consumers of cannabis to the application of criminal law,” Senator Pierre Nolin of the Progressive Conservative party said. “In a free society as ours, it’s up to the individual to decide whether to consume cannabis or not.”

The report emerged from months of hearings with Canadian and international experts, police and drug enforcement agencies and ordinary citizens.

While not binding, it will force the Liberal Party government of Prime Minister Jean Chretien to formulate a response that explains what provisions it accepts or rejects and why.

Under current law, cannabis possession is illegal in Canada, though police generally ignore individual use. The government last year passed regulations allowing eligible medical patients to grow and possess marijuana, but has yet to create a distribution network.

Marijuana grown in Canada has become a major source for some US markets, and anti-drug groups south of the border complain that liberalising Canadian drug laws would increase access to illegal drugs in the US.

Mr Nolin, chairman of the Senate committee, said the panel concluded no evidence existed that cannabis was a “gateway” drug leading to use of harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

“Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a social and public health issue,” he said.

David Griffin of the Canadian Police Association rejected those arguments, saying the committee ignored scientific evidence that cannabis was harmful.

“Drugs are not dangerous because they are illegal. Drugs are illegal because drugs are dangerous,” he said.

The government would avoid encouraging cannabis use, just as it refrains from encouraging alcohol consumption, but both should be an individual choice, Mr Nolin said.