cannabisnews.com: Fraser Institute Says Gov't Should Cash in On Pot





Fraser Institute Says Gov't Should Cash in On Pot
Posted by CN Staff on June 09, 2004 at 05:56:51 PT
By The Canadian Press 
Source: Canadian Press 
Vancouver -- The federal government should decriminalize marijuana and tax the revenue, says a report released Wednesday by the usually conservative Fraser Institute.Conservative estimates show the government stands to reap an estimated $2 billion in potential revenues annually into its coffers, said Steve Easton, a professor of economics at Simon Fraser University and senior fellow at the think-tank.
It's not a question of whether Canadians approve or disapprove of marijuana use, he suggested."I think it's like prohibition in the U.S. in that period, in the sense we've tried to suppress (marijuana use)," said Easton."We've not been successful in doing so and all we do is create an industry that really gives organized crime a chance to get some revenue."The benefits of legalizing are that organized crime would be shut out and those harmed by marijuana could get treatment instead of going to jail, Easton argued."It seems to me a far better use of our resources is to use those resources to make it legal, tax it in an appropriate way and, to the extent it causes certain kinds of social problems, then we can deal with that as part of the revenue."The study estimated there are some 17,500 marijuana grow-ops in British Columbia, where Easton said only 13 per cent of offenders are actually charged. His report also found 55 per cent of those convicted receive no jail time. Easton said some 23 per cent of Canadians have admitted to using the drug. But Paul Shrive, the head of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police, dismissed the idea of taxing marijuana sales.He said he sees ethical issues with government "making money off the backs of addicted people," although he acknowledged it already benefits from alcohol sales.In his 39 years in policing, Shrive said he's never met a person addicted to "extreme" drugs who didn't start out with pot."I don't think it's going to solve any of the (problems on the) social side," he said. Prime Minister Paul Martin said last week the Liberals are committed to carrying out their plan to decriminalize marijuana if re-elected. The government would have to reintroduce a law to hand out fines -- not criminal sentences -- to people caught with 15 grams of pot or less. The legislation died last month when Parliament was dissolved for the federal election campaign. Source: Canadian PressPublished: June 09, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Canadian PressRelated Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmLegalize It, Ex-Cop Tells Hill Pot Rallyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18962.shtmlCanadian PM Says Backs Marijuana Decrimhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18858.shtmlCannabisNews Canada Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/Canada.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by afterburner on June 09, 2004 at 07:18:14 PT
Preaching to the Choir and the Lurkers
The federal government should *decriminalize* marijuana and taxThis is an editorial conclusion, not a quote. The battle over the word decriminalization and it *meaning* has been confused by governments like New Zealand [ Cannabis: information to supplement the April 2000 report
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat http://www.clerk.parliament.govt.nz/content/plib/BP25_CannabisUpdate.pdf ] and Canada's Liberal 'decrim' bill, which would swap cagings for fines, which if not paid still could result in caging people for a God-given plant.' Indeed, the term "decriminalization" has long been popular among activists, and for most Canadians the semantics on this one are kind of fuzzy. Decriminalization and legalization have acquired historically different meanings that can't be found in online dictionaries, which essentially equate the two. "Legalization" has come to mean something similar to what happened with alcohol at the end of prohibition: no punitive measures for possession and - at worst - a strict regulation of the production and trafficking industries.' It gets a little more complicated when we get to decriminalization, which now has two meanings. "Grassroots decriminalization," as enacted by many US states, means no punitive measures whatsoever against users, and no extra jail time or punishments for growers and traffickers. "Fake decriminalization" is the kind favoured by the Liberals, which far from reducing penalties for pot, actually increases them: it is the Orwellian doublespeak of marijuana politics. ' --Should the marijuana movement support the NDP, Greens or Marijuana Party? 
by Reverend Damuzi (08 Jun, 2004) http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/3491.htmlEaston said,"...all we do is create an industry that really gives organized crime a chance to get some revenue."Wise words from a conservative think-tank and with Republican state governments tentatively supporting medical cannabis, the truth that we have been debating, discussing and sharing here at Cannabis News is gradually convincing even some of our opponents.The benefits of legalizing are that organized crime would be shut out and those harmed by marijuana could get treatment instead of going to jail, Easton argued.Suddenly, although this is *not* a direct quote, decriminalizing slides into legalizing, which is a more accurate report of the intent and content of Mr. Easton's message."It seems to me a far better use of our resources is to use those resources to *make it legal, tax it* in an appropriate way and, to the extent it causes certain kinds of social problems, then we can deal with that as part of the revenue."Direct quote, yes, he really did say "make it legal"!Paul Shrive, the head of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police, ... said he sees ethical issues with government "making money off the backs of addicted people," although he acknowledged it already benefits from alcohol sales.Not to worry, Paul Shrive, cannabis is not addictive, unless you redefine the word addiction in Orwellian doublespeak. In his 39 years in policing, Shrive said he's never met a person addicted to "extreme" drugs who didn't start out with pot.The gateway/stepping stone theory has been repeatedly discredited, but the prohibitionists just keep parroting the lie, the big lie.
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