One toke over the line

One toke over the line, sweet Jesus. One toke over the line. That’s pretty much how a hyperventilating Conservative Leader Stephen Harper came across this week as he accused his chief election rivals of being soft on drugs.

While it may not be top-of-mind for Canadians who are more worried about the sagging economy and making ends meet, Harper claims Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and New Democrat Thomas Mulcair will be the ruination of neighbourhoods, families and young people if either is given a chance to govern.

Trudeau wants to “make drugs more accessible to our children,” Harper claimed darkly at a campaign event in Markham on Tuesday, where he announced new cash for the Mounties to target grow-ops. And Mulcair advocates “dangerous, ideological policies that . . . encourage the use of drugs and increase the health, crime and community safety problems that come with it,” he added for good measure.

Good grief. Just how low does the Conservative party intend to stoop? Painting Mulcair and Trudeau as red-eyed corrupters of the nation’s youth is scraping bottom.

Granted, Harper is in this election to win, and if that means cynically spooking a few more worried parents’ votes into his column with alarmist exaggerations, so be it. But Conservatives ought to know that his obsessive, serial fear-mongering on marijuana isn’t flying with the vast majority of voters.

The Star’s Alex Boutilier and Bruce Campion-Smith report that more than 70 per cent of Canadians want Ottawa to either legalize marijuana (Trudeau’s stance) or decriminalize the possession of it in small quantities (Mulcair’s approach). Another14 per cent support the status quo. Just12 per cent want harsher penalties.

As Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley famously sang in their 1970 “One toke” hit, an increasingly marijuana-tolerant electorate has made up its mind. Who do you love? Oh, I hope it’s me. I’ve been changin’, as you can plainly see. And that change is not in the Conservative party’s favour. Not on marijuana policy, at any rate.

By now millions of Canadians have smoked a joint without falling prey to Reefer Madness, and experts such as the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy point out that Harper’s claim that cannabis legalization would make drugs more accessible to young people is bunkum, “unsupported by the scientific evidence.” Whatever one’s views on the risks associated with drug use, kids already have ready access. And legal drugs like booze and tobacco cause far more harm than experimentation with dope.

Yet the police charged more than 57,000 people last year with cannabis offences, not counting the serious matters of trafficking, production or distribution. Though barely half of drug cases result in convictions, getting a criminal record can affect employment, foreign travel, even citizenship.

That’s why the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police recommended giving police the discretion to hand out tickets for smalltime marijuana use instead of laying charges that can result in fines, jail time and ruined lives.

Before giving any credence to Harper’s claims, voters should consider that Justice Minister Peter MacKay’s office just months ago told the media that the government was “still considering” effective decriminalization, meaning ticketing for small quantities. In that light Harper’s campaign salvo is sheer hypocrisy.

There are real issues to debate in this campaign. Harper’s obsession with weed isn’t one of them.

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives are scraping bottom by painting Mulcair and Trudeau as corrupters of the nation’s youth