B.C.'s chief medical officer latest to support legalizing pot 'It should be regulated'

By Kim Pemberton, Vancouver SunMarch 28, 2012 5:55 AM

Budget March 29, 2012

Dr. Perry Kendall, B.C.'s chief provincial medical health officer, has joined four former Vancouver mayors and four former B.C. attorneys-general in calling for an end to the criminalization of marijuana. Kendall and Nova Scotia chief medical health officer Dr. Robert Strang issued a statement today calling on the federal government to enact a health-based strategy towards cannabis. Ottawa should also evaluate taxation and regulation strategies instead of continuing an "ineffective" drug law enforcement approach, they said.  "The fact cannabis is illegal doesn't diminish access rates. The so-called war on drugs has not achieved its stated objective of reducing rates of drug use. It's universally available in B.C. and the supply is controlled largely by criminal enterprise," Kendall told The Sun. "It should be regulated just like alcohol and tobacco. It [cannabis] is less addictive than either of those." (more)