Editorial: O, Canada! (Oh, the
Embarrassment!)
David Borden,
Executive Director, DRCNet, 12/13/02
Though a critic of US
drug policies, the US is still my home, its
government is mine, its leaders
were elected by my fellow US
citizens. So I can't help but get a little
embarrassed -- though
mostly entertained -- when United States drug warriors
say
ridiculous things in other countries that make them look
stupid.
One such drug warrior was Rep. Mark Souder. Souder told
members
of a Canadian Senate Committee last July that "BC Bud,"
British
Columbia's famous high-grade marijuana, is as dangerous
as
cocaine, threatening Canada with a tighter border crackdown if
they
proceeded with decriminalization as officials have called
for. Souder's
wacky claim drew proper astonishment from Member of
Parliament from Vancouver
Libby Davies, who wondered out loud to
Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper, "My
God, what is this man
talking about?" The Senators weren't impressed
either -- their
final report went further than decriminalization and
instead
called for marijuana legalization outright.
Two of Souder's
partners in comedy, US drug czar John Walters and
former Family Research
Council VP and Bush drug policy advisor
Robert Maginnis, were loud in
Canada's news this week, and they
sounded desperate. Walters warned
that liberalizing drug laws
would hurt Canadians, begging them, "[d]on't
repeat our pain."
Maginnis warned, "We're going to have to clamp down even
stronger
on our border if you liberalize and contribute to what we
consider
a drug tourism problem," continuing, "I don't want to get to
the
point where we're calling for a boycott of Canadian products."
I
wonder which products Maginnis was talking about, and if he
actually thinks
it would work. This country hasn't even boycotted
Saudi oil. And
decades of exhortation by government officials,
private anti-drug groups,
teachers, DARE cops, military, media and
numerous others haven't persuaded
American enthusiasts from
indulging in cannabis both domestic and
foreign. It's pretty
unlikely that very many people would get worked up
enough to keep
track of and avoid the numerous nondescript consumer goods
that
cross our northern border legally -- even in the unlikely event
that
marijuana policy changes in Canada drew the ire of
significant numbers of
Americans.
Walters and Maginnis should be worried. Support for
decrim rises
to the highest levels of government. It has popular
support.
Indeed, many Canadians, like the Senate Committee, don't feel
it
goes far enough. The aforementioned Libby Davies told
the
Winnipeg Free Press this week that the House of Commons
Special
Committee's recommendations "leav[e] in place all the harms
from
prohibition." Eugene Oscapella of the Canadian Foundation
for
Drug Policy said "it is not clear if the police will still be able
to
kick your door down, throw you up against the wall, arrest you,
and then
write you a traffic ticket." Canada's media isn't only
covering the
American side, but is speaking with experts from that
famous bastion of
tolerant drug policy, The Netherlands. And
Canada is looking at a range
of reforms relating to other drugs,
including safe injection rooms and heroin
maintenance trial
programs. How long will it be before there is a
serious dialogue
on legalization of all drugs?
Though the decrim
recommendations aren't everything reformers
would like, they are a
significant start, and a sign that US drug
warriors' stranglehold on
international drug policymaking is
slowly but surely falling apart.
It's understandable that they
would be in a panic over it. But I wish
they would save the rest
of us the embarrassment and show a little more grace
and class in
their diplomacy.
In the meantime, go
Canada!