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Randy White was interviewed by Rex Murphy on the May 18, 2003 Cross Country Checkup program (CBC Radio)
The following is a transcript of the interview.
(thanks to steve_b)
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Rex Murphy: Joining me now is Randy White. Mr. White is the Canadian Alliance Member of Parliament for Langley-Abbotsford in British Columbia. He's also the opposition critic on drug policy. Mr. White, it's good to talk to you again, how are you?
Randy White: Just wonderful.
Rex Murphy: I'd like to get your first response, both your own and that of your party. Is the government doing the right thing?
Randy White: Well, I think basically they're headed in a direction, but let's face it, we forced the government into it, this direction. So, as to whether or not we should decriminalize, yes I think we should, but it has very specific criteria and conditions attached to that. And therein, once again, lies the difficulties in trying to get those conditions addressed.
Rex Murphy: What's your perspective, as opposition critic on this, is the reason that this law was delayed.. is it because our justice minister went and met with the attorney general in the states and there's some back-static on this, or is that merely a speculation?
Randy White: Well I just came back from the states talking about this issue on Friday, and that is part of it. They were told to get back to the drawing board on a couple of issues. In particular, the issue of proper penalties for those over the decriminalized amount. And also, as we've been pushing all along, the government doesn't have a national drug strategy. It's actually implementing some of these things by virtue of popular opinion or polls or whatever they do. My concern all along has been, look, this decriminalization is a very small portion of the drug strategy that has to be put in place in this nation. That's what I've been after all along.
Rex Murphy: How much, Mr. White, do you know - I asked this question of the last person we had on here - as things are now, before any legislation is even talked about to go to the commons, if you're in Nova Scotia or Ontario or British Columbia and some person has 15 grams of marijuana - let's say over the last 5 or 10 years - and if they're seen by a police officer, has it been inevitable that that person get charged and hauled into court, or is it laissez-faire more or less?
Randy White: No, it's not a common practice actually, and I was listening to your previous speaker. Interesting today when we get into these drug debates on marijuana or any other drugs, we get into talking to lawyers for the advocates, but we should be talking to the medical profession - that's the ones I want to hear from. but, to answer your question, David Griffin, the executive director of the Canadian Police Association - now, he says people don't go to jail for simple possession of marijuana, and less than one marijuana possession charge per police is laid in Canada per year.
Rex Murphy: Less than one... per?
Randy White: One per police officer, is laid in Canada per year. and that is, normally, in conjunction with something else, like (...) or suspected other drugs, assault and so on. They lay marijauna along with those charges, and more typically those other charges get plea-bargained out with the minor marijuana.
Rex Murphy: So in what I'll call the practical world, or the world as things are, if a bill does make it to the house and if decriminalization of small amounts, under 30 grams, is passed.. that effectively, it won't have a great difference on the lives of many people.
Randy White: Don't look for a big change here. What we're after - you see, decriminalization is a move toward legalization - no question in my mind about that. We're already debating, for instance, whether it should be 30 grams, which is anywhere from 30 to 60 joints, or 5 grams, which is 5 to 7,8 joints. You know, they don't even have that down pat yet. But we also have to look at other things that are needed here. What are fines going to be? Are they going to be progressive? Can the provinces collect the fines? Most solicitor generals are telling me no, they can't even collect the traffic fines. Will they in fact be ignored by the marijuana legalization advocates? And they tell me, yes, we will ignore the fines and we'll force you into the courts again and tie that process up until we get our way. There's also the inability at the moment for roadside testing assessment for drugged driving. And most people are aware that marijuana and booze, put together, are a dangerous combination. So, there are other things that have to be looked at, not just this kind of thing called decriminalization. That's a very small part of the problem here.
Rex Murphy: On the one area you touched here, do you see the use of drugs and driving as potentially being a large problem, or is it something that somebody could pass over.
Randy White: Oh, no, no, that's pretty serious. I mean, I've been involved in the drunk driving aspects for years, and we do know that marijuana and alcohol are a very dangerous combination, so we don't want the public to get the idea that this is a green light for drugs, for marijuana in particular. It is not. marijuana, at the end of the day, is illegal. The only difference is, if you're caught with a certain, minor amount, you're given a fine as opposed to a criminal sentence. That's all there is to it, and it's not a green light. Heaven forbid, we should be out there telling people more about the harmful effects of it.
Rex Murphy: Last question (...) when it finally, and we're not certain, but when it finally does get to the house of commons for process, do you expect a very vigorous debate on this, or is there already a concensus in the chamber that more or less we're going to let this one go through.
Randy White: Oh, no, ho ho ho. This is going to be vigorous, because, you know, what I'm after here, is not so much the decriminalization - although, as I say, conditions have to be met first. We can't just once again jump into this thing and try to figure it out later. But, more importantly, the national drug strategy.. where is it? What are you doing with ecstacy? How much money are you putting into advertising? all of those things. Detox, rehabiliation, certification of people involved in various aspects of drug rehabiliation. So there's a lot to talk about, and this isn't going to be a minor discussion, I can assure you.
Rex Murphy: There's a last question, there always is. If you have, ok, decriminalized
marijuana, let's go up one step, I think it's one step up the ladder. If people then say, well, I take a small amount of cocaine, why is that the government's business? Is this the beginning of a chain of advocacy, and once you take care of one wrung on the ladder, the next group'll come by and say, well, you know, this isn't fair that the marijuana guys can do what they like, why can't I do this? what's the principle active here that says, a) this drug is ok, but b) this drug is not?
Randy White: Well, this is going, as I said, this is on the road to legalization, and this is anything but a stop, this is the beginning. and, you know, we don't even... what we know for a fact, that there are many advocates out there who are saying, listen, count on us being there for other issues. The government is looking at 3 pilot projects for injection sites, for instance. if you think for a minute, once one starts, that they won't want it in another town, and insist on it here, insist on it there.. we're on a road, and we'll see how we manage it, whether it's managed right or wrong. I know it took me to put a motion into the house of commons to get the government to even study drugs, after ten years in office. So, we're going to have to pull some teeth here, and ultimately, hopefully, we'll have a rational policy in which to judge ourselves by and our own standards.
Rex Murphy: Okay, well randy, randy white, I thank you again for joining us this afternoon.
Randy White: You're welcome.
Rex Murphy: Good afternoon to you sir. Randy White is Canadian Alliance MP. He's also the opposition critic on drug policy.
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