EX-CHIEF NEVER SMOKED
But he bought pot while undercover
Have you ever smoked pot?
No and, interestingly enough, I worked on the drug squad in Toronto for years. I worked undercover, I’ve purchased a lot of marijuana but I’ve never used it.
And why is that?
I’ve never used any illegal drug. A personal choice. Growing up my dad was a cop and I didn’t want to disrespect my father as a young teenager and then when I became a police officer myself I worked in that area but never felt inclined to use any illegal drug.
Not even curious to know as a cop why people would be drawn to it?
Nope. It was my job. I worked in that community, in the culture for years. I actually worked in organized drug crime as well for about four years, manned the organized drug crime units in Toronto. I’ve dealt with that as a police officer for a long time, but I’ve never used it. … One of the first times I had to buy drugs as an undercover officer, I had to buy hash oil. It was in an apartment. Somebody brought out a wine bottle with a hole in the bottom of it and offered it to me (to smoke hash oil), and I didn’t have a clue what to do with it.
What did you do?
You talk fast. You buy the drugs. And you get out fast.
How do you think that frames your thinking about the legalization issue?
I was a police officer for 38 and a half years, but I was also responsible as a police chief for the safety of communities and the safety of kids in the city. . . . I came to believe there was a better way. Simply dealing with marijuana with a criminal sanction and a criminal sanction alone wasn’t achieving what we wanted to do. It wasn’t keeping it out of the hands of kids; it wasn’t preventing organized crime from controlling its distribution and sale in our neighbourhoods; it wasn’t reducing the violence and victimization that takes place in poor neighbourhoods; it didn’t address the disparity of the impact of that law enforcement that takes place in minority communities much more than in majority communities.
Do you think the public’s ready?
I don’t think we have much prospect of succeeding in trying to address the things that concern us about marijuana, particularly use by youth . . .with the current reliance on the criminal sanction. I am actually quite confident that we can do a much better job through strict regulation.