Vancouver Mayor Supports Cannabis Legalization

[Oz]

Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell has weighed in on the marijuana debate, and left no doubt where he stands.

 

Speaking at a conference on legalizing pot Saturday, Campbell said he supports the plan but added it pot were available legally, he would "tax the hell out of it."

 

Campbell said every tax dollar would go to health care, noting that without the pot industry, British Columbia would be in a recession.

 

If pot ever is legalized, don't expect Campbell to spark up.

 

"In fact, I've never even smoked marijuana," the mayor told the conference. "My biggest fear is that I may like it more than cabernet, and then what the hell am I going to do?"

 

Campbell says it's time to take the marijuana industry out of criminals' hands.

 

"What I do want is to stop seeing people go to jail. I want to stop seeing the waste of resources, our resources, taxpayers' resources," he explained.

 

According to the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which helped organize the conference, punishing pot users doesn't make sense. The herb has been around for centuries but was only declared illegal about 80 years ago.

 

"You have to speak out," says the BCCLA's policy director, Kirk Tousaw. "You have to say, 'Hey, I do smoke cannabis and I'm not a criminal.' That's the next step people have to take. They have to come out of the closet."

 

The forum's keynote speaker was Conservative senator Claude Nolin, who recently completed an 18-month Senate inquiry into marijuana use and laws in Canada, concluding marijuana should be legalized.

 

Ottawa's plan to decriminalize marijuana is about to go up in smoke. The legislation hasn't made it to a final vote -- and won't if the prime minister calls an election.

 

Still the issue will continue to burn, with the NDP vowing to make legalization a major election platform.

 

By CTV.ca News Staff

Date: 09/05/04

Source: CTV.ca

Copyright: 2004 Bell Globemedia Inc.

[mrbillz]

Yeah, tax the hell out of it, but make it available. OR- restrict it to medical use and issue an I.D. card for a fee like we do here in OREGON, USA. Last State meeting they said there was a surplus of almost $3/4Mil. and there's only about 10,000 "cardholders" in the state. It's already helping the economy, and they are still trying say it won't. Damn Pencilnecks!