4 ~ Sunday, December 15, 1991 — North Shore News Level the nicotinealcohol playing field MANY YEARS ago, back in what I realize now was in- deed a liberal Golden Age — the late 1960s — I had a distinguished visitor show up at the door of the farm I was renting in Richmond: Gerald LeDain. Mr. LeDain had been handed the task by the federal government of recommending whether Canada’s drug laws should be reformed. Ina newspaper column I was weiting at the time, I had express- ed the outrageous opinion that soft drugs should ail be legalized and narcotics reclassified so ad- dicts could be treated at govern- ment expense. Coming out to my farm for a one-on-one chat constituted the informal part of Mr. LeDain’s commission, you understand. He was doing a lot of this, ! gathered, finding people in the community who had strong opi- nions one way or another. The main bulk of his work, of course, would be listening to of- ‘ficial submissions and reading massive documents from medical authorities, police authorities, social workers and lawyers, plus hundreds of hours of testimony, cross-examination, and, indeed, passionate speeches from religious zealots and radicals alike. It would be from this raw ma- terial, not the musings-aloud of a mere West Coast columnist with oddball ideas, that the coramis- sion’s conclusions would be based. But it was nice to think that this guy, LeDain, might be influenced, however slightly, by one’s argu- ments, and I happily debated the matter with him. We took a ‘valk through the fields, and as we were walking, | posed the hypothetical Guestion: if somcone were to offer him a joint, would he smoke it as pari of his research, in order to know what he was talking about? Absolutely not! He was quite vehement, After all, ic would compromise his objectivity. Those were his words. From that point on, [ never re- ally had much hope for the Le- Dain Commission on Drugs. It was as though somebody had been assigned to write a report on Bob Hunter STRICTLY PERSONAL flying — and had decided they would do it without taking a flight. In the name of objectivity, he would keep his feet planted firmly on the ground, writing about what he saw in the distance, asking other people what it was like, and inevitably submitting an earth- bound point of view, When the report was eventually submitted to Parliament, it detail- ed the contradictions and incon- sistencies of the Canadian justice system, permitting nicotine and alcohol on the one hand, while with the other handing out hor- rendous jail sentences for touching pot or hash, both of which are demonstrably less damaging. The LeDain Commission came close to arguing that, strictly on the grounds of fair and reasonable jurisprudence, the existing drug laws should be seriously amended. it stopped short of recommen- ding legalization, but gave pienty of ammo to any real liberal who wanted to at least start decriminalizing drug use. With Trudeau famously oppos- ed to the state’s presence in the bedrooms of the nation, it seemed logicai ¢1.2ugh to tell the state to butt out of people’s lungs and _hervous systems as well. John Turner, then the justice minister, could have made changes. He had the levers of power in his hands, but when it came time to work ‘them, he froze. The drug laws remained un- changed, except that as the Gold- en Age of Canadian liberalism collapsed in a mountain of deficit, the attitude of succeeding right- wing governments swung to the other end of the pendulum, with Brian Mulroney parroting George Bush’s ‘‘man-the-barricades”’ philosophy. Well, here we are in the °90s, spending $10 billion a year in Canada alone manning those drug-law enforcement barricades, catching an estimated 10% of the total amount of illicit drugs pass- ing through the system, while the rest carries merrily on. Tiare numbers war on drugs is being ‘‘won.”’ Recreational drug use in Canada is down, although how much of that is due to the recession is hard to say. The trouble is, crime is up, much of it attributable to drug addiction. And this has kick- started a renewed debate about drug-law reform, the best example of which is Simon Fraser criminologist Neil Boyd’s book High Society: Legal and Illegal Drugs in Canada. It picks up where the LeDain Commission left everyone hang- ing. Today, Boyd notes, some 35,000 Canadians are killed by nicotine every year, while another 15,000 deaths are alcohol-related, In the same period of time, some 20 deaths can be attributed to marijuana and LSD combined. If there is a menace to society, SILK PLANTS ° NOTICE TO MOTORISTS LIONS GATE BRIDGE SINGLE LANE TRAFFIC The Ministry of Transportation and Highways announces there will be single lane, alternating traffic on the Lions Gate Bridge from Sunday, November 24 until Friday, December 20. Single tane, alternating traffic is needed to allow replacement of the expansion joints on the bridge and will be in effect as follows: Sunday to Thursday 11:30 PM - 5:00 AM Motorists should expect delays or plan to use an alternate route. For fur- ther information, please call the Ministry of Transportation and Highways 24-Hour Road Report at 525-4997 (Greater Vancouver), 938-4997 (Whistler), 371-4997 (Kamloops), 860-4997 (Kelowna), 855-4997 (Ab- botsford), 380-4997 (Victoria), *4997 (Cellular). In all other areas please call 1-800-663-4997. a Zi Province of British Columbia Ce ee one cannot help but suspect, with Mulroney’s fear of a smack- smack from Uncle George, who can get very stern when one of his favorite smoke screens gets fanned away. What should be done, of course, is make booze and nico- tine illegal too. A level playing field. That’s my view. it is the drunk driver, with 1,200 kills in Canada last year, not counting the maimings and the permanent damage, psychological as well as physical. Boyd's prediction is that legalization of pot alone would easily bring in $2 billion in tax revenue in the first year. The main reason it hasn't hap- pened yet has something to do, Santa’s coming early to | WELL wiry Featuring our December Special pl ui Ss | NOKIA Stockirig Stuffers | Gift Certificates Free Weekend Calling (activate before Dec. 31/91) Celiular Phone (weighs only 500 grams) “2000+ our reg. low price Win a free cellular phone!! Hurry! 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