Many critics in the United States have decided that marijuana incites some biochemical trance that leads people to tramp the streets looking for heroin and cocaine."2.
Due to the lucrative nature of the illegal trade of marijuana, it has attracted the attention of organized crime. As Ken McQueen noted in his article, Blowing smoke in Vansterdam (obviously referring to Vancouver) in Macleans magazine, that organized crime controls and operates the majority of the marijuana grow operations in Vancouver. The marijuana trade in B.C. is estimated to be $6-billion annually by the province's Organized Crime Agency. Also, the pot trade in B.C. generates more money than mining and manufacturing, and is only second to logging. Another Macleans writer, Julian Beltrame, makes a good analogy in her article, Reefer Madness: The Sequel: .
"The chief rationale for defending the cannabis law is protecting youth. But by ensuring the only supply for marijuana is from the same people who also sell crack cocaine and heroin, the law is actually making it more likely they will get access to harder, seriously harmful drugs. The analogy with booze in contemporary society is instructive. Kids still get access to alcohol, as they do to pot, but is there an organized international cartel with machine guns, corrupting governments, killing people, selling alcohol to kids in high schools? No, because there's no money in it."3 .
People who smoke marijuana do not belong in jail, as the punishment does not fit the crime. Canadians who smoke marijuana are not criminals. They are mostly hard working, tax contributing citizens. The majority of them are definitely non-violent individuals. Most people use marijuana recreationally as a substitute for alcohol and/or tobacco. Should this be a crime? .
The government of Canada has allowed a handful of Canadians, albeit not very many, a medical exemption. This is a positive step, however, the government must not drag their heels, as there are a number of people who would like to smoke marijuana to help comfort the pain, stress, suffering, and loss of appetite involved with many illnesses.
