Common Sense From Canada

In its December issue, the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry published an essay by psychiatrist Stephen Kisely, who divides his time between Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, titled, "The Case for Policy Reform in Cannabis Control." Kisely's essay is so full of logic and common sense that the best thing to do is just quote it at length:

"The lack of evidence for prohibition is highlighted by the fact that penalties bear little relation to the actual harm associated with cannabis. The Runciman Report, commissioned by the Police Federation in the United Kingdom, no less, concluded that both alcohol and tobacco were more harmful than cannabis; nonetheless, there is no suggestion that prohibition should play a part in controlling their use. ...

"Despite the emphasis on supply reduction, a comparison of the United States, Australia, Canada, and 3 European countries showed that cannabis consumption is unaffected by expenditure on law enforcement. Changing the legislation on cannabis could produce substantial savings or redeployment of police resources to more effective areas. If anything, consumption of cannabis continues to grow irrespective of the degree of law enforcement, and the increase has not been greater in countries where laws have been liberalized. In the 11 American states that effectively decriminalized cannabis use in the 1970s, use has not risen beyond that experienced by comparable states where it is prohibited. ...

"The failure of prohibition to reduce cannabis use is in contrast to the success of strategies to reduce tobacco use. Smoking is falling in high-income countries and is now less than cannabis use in some surveys of young Canadians. ...

"Approaches to dealing with cannabis should be similar to those for tobacco and alcohol."