Right-side support

Marijuana legalization isn’t just an idea for potheads, dreamers and old hippies anymore. Respectable people are jumping on the legalization bandwagon, too, with the latest group creating waves in the nation’s capital last week.

Called “Canadian Conservatives for Legal Marijuana,” the group posted two billboards, intending to draw attention ahead of “4/20,” yesterday’s traditional celebration day for marijuana smokers.

The group is headed by 17-year Reform/Conservative MP Inky Mark and claims the support of Conservative MPs Scott Reid and Gerald Keddy, Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership frontrunner Patrick Brown, and other right-leaning thinkers.

The group’s catchphrase is “Real Conservatives support legal marijuana.”

Legalizing marijuana, they say, agrees with conservative principles of lower taxes, smaller government and more focus on personal responsibility.

“We want to remind (Stephen) Harper’s government what real conservatives stand for,” says Mark in the news release. “His personal crusade against marijuana users is just another expensive, big government intervention, wasting tax dollars and treating Canadians like children.

“We believe that marijuana prohibition has failed and that it’s time for a new approach that’s more in line with real conservative values.”

Growing support on the right for legalization could be a turning point.

Harper and his justice minister Peter MacKay sound more and more out of touch, even with their base, as they claim they’ll never consider legalization and accuse legalization proponents like Justin Trudeau of pushing drugs on kids.

In fact, one of ideas behind regulating the sale of pot is to make it harder for children to obtain.

Pot sales in places like Washington state follow the same rules as liquor sales. No one under age can legally buy the product. Washington’s pot stores require people to show identification at the door before being allowed to enter.

Like alcohol, it’s not a foolproof system, but it could make buying pot harder for kids, who now have easy access to it on the streets.

Canada should examine the systems in states like Washington and Colorado and see if their rules for growing and selling marijuana might be working better than the almost-lawless and ineffective state of affairs we have going on right now.

We should examine U.S. states where pot is legal