Just how "sensible" are voters in British Columbia?
We should find out this autumn.
The SensibleBC group wants your signature and if they can gather 400,000 names, it'll be the first step to decriminalizing the possession of cannabis in this province through the Sensible Policing Act.
Of course that would mean all the pot users would have to get out of their mother's basement, put down the Cheezies and stop watching the Wizard of Oz and listening to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon at the same time.
And that's exactly what those against marijuana would want you to think.
The fact is that cannabis users come in all shapes and sizes. There's the senior who uses pot to help deal with the nagging pain of debilitating disease, the corporate drone who lights up a joint to take the ease off a hard day of work and the university student breaking out the bong to deal with exam stress.
Not only would decriminalizing help give relief to certain users, it would also give relief to our court and police systems.
According to the SensibleBC website, B.C. police spent their time with more than 19,000 incidents of marijuana possession in 2010 alone, far more than any province. Just last year, more than 3,500 B.C. residents were charged with simple possession (under 30 grams).
Police and courts should be dealing with real criminals and real issues, not wasting time picking on relatively harmless pot users.
And it's not just stoners who seem to be supporting the idea of decriminalization. In recent years, everyone from Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson to former premier Mike Harcourt and even the Union of BC Municipalities have spoken out in support of the issue.
Locally, Coun. Bryan Raiser and former MLA Joan MacIntyre have spoken out in favour of some sort of legalization of marijuana. In fact, as noted in an article in this week's Chief, there are at least two or three commercial medical marijuana operations in town.
The potential for "B.C. Bud" as an industry is huge. Worldwide our marijuana is recognized as some of the best available. It could create jobs and even build a little tourism boom just ask Snoop Dogg.
All that being said there are obvious risks to marijuana use but not any more or less than tobacco, alcohol and caffeine. After Colorado and Washington State both legalized marijuana the time is now for B.C. to jump on board and not lose the cash cow that could very easily be marijuana production.
If and when the SensibleBC people get their way, one other "sensible" thing to remember is to do as my pot-smoking friends used to do always, under all circumstances pass to the left.
