Legalizing All Drugs

Is it a case of oppression or protecting Canadians from dangerous substances?  That's the question a local resident is raising as Michel Labonte pushes for the federal government to legalize all drugs.  Marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy and even heroin.  He made a presentation to Moose Jaw City Council Monday night, trying to get their support in his quest.

Michel Labonte's presentation to council

"There are millions of Canadians of all walks of life and of all age that use the so called illegal drugs for different reasons and we judge them as bad people." explained Labonte. "Those people are not much different from the millions of other citizens who are also using all kinds of stimulants for many reasons such as antidepressants, Ritalin, alcohol, tobacco, coffee and sugar."

Labonte says he's not promoting drug use but says we're wasting millions of dollars in the fight against drugs and actually creating the drug problems because they are illegal.  He argues that legalizing drugs would eliminate the black market.

"The time has come for us Canadians to put an end this great injustice. Thousands of good citizens in this city and millions of good people are being oppressed and targeted as criminals because they either grow, buy, sell or use drugs that our country considers illegal."

Following Labonte's presentation Councillor Don Mitchell suggested the idea of legalizing drugs and their effect on a community was worth further discussion and made a motion to refer the matter to the South Central Drug Strategy. The other councillors agreed and the matter will be looked at further in the future.

The push by Labonte is nothing new. There has been a large movement in North America to legalize marijuana but the idea of legalizing all drugs is something new. There are some countries in the world that have looked the other way when it comes to the use of recreational drugs in an attempt to curb the illegal drug trade. Most notably, Amsterdam has become a drug tourist destination for years. Recent proposals to change that has been met with backlash from cannabis cafe owners who say 90% of their profits come from tourists. There are many who argue that governments could profit from sale of drugs just like they do with alcohol and tobacco.

But not everyone is in favour of the idea. Many experts argue that legalizing drugs will increase addiction problems. Kathy Willerth is Saskatchewan's Director of Mental Health & Addictions and admits legalizing all drugs is a very complicated issue. "I think, from our perspective, we would be concerned with the increased access and availability and how we would deal with that."

"Certainly, if we can increase public awareness about the risks of alcohol and drug use and promote healthy lifestyles amongst everyone, that would be a good goal."

This is Saskatchewan Addictions Awareness Week, which aims to reduce the problematic use of alcohol and drugs.