Canada’s pot policy needs to sober up
The air is thick with pot talk in Canadian political circles these days, but the rhetoric is so extreme – ranging from “pot kills” to “pot cures cancer” – that it’s sometimes hard to get a grip on what needs to be done.
There are actually three distinct public-policy questions that need to be addressed:
- Is smoking marijuana safe and, if not, what should we do about it?
- Should smoking (or possessing) marijuana be a criminal offence?
- Should marijuana be used as medicine?
Smoking is not healthy, regardless of what you smoke. But like other so-called recreational drugs, such as tobacco and alcohol, the risk is minimal with casual use. What matters is dose and frequency.
Full column by Andre Picard available in The Globe and Mail.