[溫哥華本地新聞] Coalition of experts calls for legalized pot 2011, calls, drive, could

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Coalition of experts calls for legalized potArgues regulations could drive down useJohn Ackermann
Oct 27, 2011 07:09:13 AM
http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/292886--coalition-of-experts-calls-for-legalized-pot#




VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - An unprecedented group of health, academic, and law-enforcement experts is calling for the legalization of marijuana.

Dr. Evan Wood is a member of "Stop the Violence BC." He says the current war on drugs is a trillion-dollar failure.

Wood, the director of the Urban Health initiative for the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, believes if marijuana was regulated on a public health model like alcohol and tobacco, the money generated would go to legal businesses instead of organized crime.

"That [money] could also be used to enforce prevention strategies and actually reduce rates of use, just like we've seen with tobacco regulation under a legal framework," he explains.

He argues prohibition has had the precise opposite effect of its intention. "Cannabis is more available to young people today than alcohol and tobacco. The price continues to go down [and] the potency continues to go up."

Wood believes regulating pot would lead to a drop in use.

The group commissioned an Angus Reid poll which found 87 per cent of British Columbians asked link gang violence to organized crime's efforts to control the cannabis trade. The survey also finds only 12 per cent want to keep exisiting pot laws in place.