Dwain Lingenfelter - Support Marijuana Legalization
I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate Dwain Lingenfelter on his successful bid to become the leader of the New Democratic Party of Saskatchewan. While I’m offering him my congratulations, and best of luck, I’d like to extend a simple challenge to him as well.
As a member of the Saskatchewan Marijuana Party I’d like to see him take the very simple step of changing his party’s opposition to the legalization of marijuana. It would be very easy for the NDP take a stand in support of the legalization of marijuana and strengthen their current, albeit weak, support for the decriminalization of marijuana. Doing so would move them more in line with popular opinion on the use and legalization of marijuana.
Marijuana is far less harmful, both socially and medically, than other recreational substances, such as alcohol, which are legal. As a medicinal product, it has many benefits, with fewer side-effects than many drugs commonly prescribed by doctors which are often very addictive (opiate based pain killers), or have serious and multiple side-effects.
Having marijuana use and production as a criminal offense is an untenable and expensive drain on society. It needlessly clogs the court system with trivial cases, steals 10’s of thousands of man-hours from police forces, and wastes millions of dollars keeping people who are otherwise lawful in prisons around the country. This is perhaps the worst part – thousands of ordinary people like you and I can be labeled as criminals, and carry a criminal record for an act that Canadians see as acceptable, and have for the most part participated in themselves.
So, Mr. Lingenfelter, I’d like to ask you to take a simple step and bring your party in line with popular opinion and actively support the legalization of marijuana. It’s good for the economy, good for the criminal justice system, and good for the people.