I understand the many concerns people have about the process the Liberal government has taken towards legalization of marijuana.
As the Justice Critic at the time, I took the lead with my NDP colleagues in closely scrutinizing this legislation. My main concern, that I share with the government, is that our current criminal approach to marijuana use has been a failure in every sense of the word: it has not stopped its use, it allows criminal enterprises (who are in some cases very violent) to collect millions of dollars in profit, and it saddles too many people with criminal records.
Individuals charged with minor marijuana offences experience the profoundly negative effects that criminal records have on their lives. Furthermore, the Canadian Criminal Justice System is overstretched and under-resourced, a problem which is compounded by the large number of marijuana-related cases which occur every year.
While Bill C-45 is far from perfect, I believe that it will in some ways help address the black-market sale of marijuana and the other problems which are caused by prohibition, which is one of the reasons that I voted in favour of it.
Alistair MacGregor, MP
Cowichan-Malahat-Langford