The Telegram (St. John's)
Local, Saturday,
April 28, 2012, p. A5
POLITICS
Most N.L. MPs favour decriminalization
Barb
Sweet
They're stopping short of calling for marijuana to be legalized, but most of the MPs from this province
favour its decriminalization.
That would see simple possession subject to a fine rather than jail time.
Unsurprisingly, given his party's ultra-tough stand on crime,
Conservative Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Peter Penashue, the
MP for Labrador, issued a statement to The Telegram saying
he does
not support the legalization of marijuana.
"And our government has no intention of
legalizing it. That said, we are
not
making any changes to the law when it comes to simple marijuana
possession. Rather we will continue to target the source of the illicit
drug trade - the drug traffickers and those
who import drugs into Canada," Penashue said.
Liberal Avalon
MP Scott
Andrews is ardent in his opinion.
"Legalize, regulate and tax it,"
he said.
Andrews said police officers need to use their resources to pursue more urgent criminal activity than pot use.
NDP
St. John's South-Mount Pearl
MP Ryan Cleary wants it decriminalized.
"I feel no one should go to jail for possessing a couple of joints. I
said exactly that when I stood on the floor of the House of Commons and
spoke about the omnibus crime bill,"
he said.
"The Harper administration is imposing mandatory minimum sentences for as few as six pot plants. I don't agree with that at
all."
Cleary said
he can't remember the last time
he went to a social gathering where there wasn't someone inside or outside smoking pot.
"It is part of our society now,"
he said.
"Decriminalization
all the way. I am
not for outright legalization at this point - one step at a time."
St. John's East NDP
MP Jack Harris said the criminalization of marijuana is
not an appropriate answer.
"We want an approach focused on harm reduction, rather than criminalization,"
he said.
"We're very concerned about the Conservatives' war on drugs. ... They're actually giving
people
disincentives to rehabilitate themselves by putting criminal records on
them that affects the rest of their lives. ... That is wrong."
Harris said if the NDP was to form a government, decriminalization
would be in order, but the party would likely seek experts and a
commission to debate the merits of legalization.
Longtime Liberal Humber-
St.
Barbe-
Baie Verte MP Gerry Byrne is
not in
favour of
legalizing it,
though he acknowledges people from
all walks of
life smoke the
stuff.
"I am in
favour of decriminalizing possession of amounts less than that intended for the purposes of trafficking,"
he said.
"There is a very real difference in decriminalizing versus legalization. Speeding is
not a criminal offence, but it is certainly
not legal. Reckless driving, on the other hand, with its potential to cause bodily harm, is a criminal offence,"
he said.
"I believe imposing mandatory minimum sentences of six months in
prison for growing six marijuana plants will simply make hardened
criminals out of otherwise peaceful, non-violent citizens. Jails have
been termed by many corrections experts as 'crime colleges,'
where
people who would otherwise
not
be exposed to violent criminal elements and habits - and to addiction
risk from drugs within the prison system - are suddenly cast into such
situations for months on end. This can only and will only ever lead to a
bad result."
Liberal Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor
MP Scott Simms said
he would entertain the idea of decriminalizing marijuana and how legislators could aid law enforcement agencies by "
not having them bogged down with frivolous,
small possession charges."
Judy Foote,
Liberal MP for Random-Burin-
St. George's, also supports decriminalization, but would need to know more about the consequences before entertaining the idea of
legalizing the substance.
"I certainly support the availability of marijuana for cancer
patients, which is one reason I support decriminalization. To treat
someone as a criminal who gets pain relief from a disease like cancer by
using marijuana would be criminal itself," she said.
Provincial Justice Minister Felix Collins declined comment, as the decision as to whether or
not to legalize marijuana is in federal jurisdiction.
Legalization advocates such as Mike Dawe of the Newfoundland and
Labrador Medical Marijuana Society say decriminalization can't work, as
it makes it OK to possess pot, but users would still have to get it
somewhere because the sale of it would be a criminal
offence.
bsweet@thetelegram.com
Boxe(s):
MPs ON MARIJUANA USE
The Telegram asked the seven MPs from Newfoundland and Labrador if they have ever tried, or currently use marijuana.
Liberal Gerry Byrne: "I do
not use marijuana or any other illicit drug."
Liberal Judy Foote: "Never."
Liberal Scott Andrews: Has tried it in the past but does
not use it now.
Liberal Scott Simms: "I have in the past and admit to inhaling."
NDP Ryan Cleary: Has smoked it in the past.
NDP Jack Harris: "A guy like me who went to university in the '60s,
all sorts of things were going on then ... I don't think my personal history has anything to do with this."
Conservative Peter Penashue: No response
© 2012 The Telegram (St. John's). All rights reserved.
Document number: news·20120428·ET·0008
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