By Megan Coady
Feb. 24, 2011
The battle over marijuana re-surfaced again recently after a former attorney general of B.C. said what is natural should not be prohibited.
Charlottetown MP Sean Casey agrees.
The war on drugs in the past has been a bust, he said.
“For the Conservatives to introduce minimum sentencing for a kid growing six plants is not the answer.”
Casey would like to see marijuana decriminalized.
“Treat it like open liquor or a traffic ticket, as opposed to a criminal record. I think society is ready for that.”
But Charlottetown deputy police chief Richard Collins doesn’t agree.
“From our standpoint there’s no support at this point.”
Canada is getting mixed messages on this, he said.
“It’s a really complicated and complex issue.”
Decriminalizing marijuana seems to have become an easy fix to the public, which seems to believe the police should be fighting bigger battles, said Collins.
He doesn’t see it that way.
“It’s a soft drug that leads to people experimenting with other drugs, kind of like a stepping ladder.”
Just because something is decriminalized or legalized doesn’t mean it’s good for you and he fears giving the okay to marijuana will make it more easily abused like tobacco and alcohol, said Collins.
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