From: [hemp nation] at [pobox.com] (Hemp Nation Headquarters - Christopher Clay, proprietor)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs,alt.drugs.pot,rec.drugs.cannabis,can.general
Subject: Flashback to 1969: Ontario Chief Coroner Backs Legal Marijuana Sale
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 1995 03:53:36 GMT

London Free Press
October 31, 1969

Chief coroner backs legal marijuana sale

TORONTO (CP) - Dr. H.B. Cotnam, Ontario's supervising coroner, said
Thursday he has urged the federal inquiry into non-medical drug use to
recommend the sale of marijuana be made legal.

Dr. Cotnam said in an interview he suggested marijuana be sold through
government-controlled stores.  He said he made the recommendation in a
private session of the inquiry commission, which held its opening
round of hearings Oct. 16-18.

Dr. Cotnam elaborated in the interview on remarks he made Thursday at
a seminar for coroners.  He had told the coroners he has urged the
federal government to permit experiments with a select group of people
to determine if marijuana is harmful.

Attorney-General Arthur Wishart of Ontario said Thursday night he has
an "open mind" about making marijuana legal.  Ontaqrio would consider
making it available through provincial outlets if the federal
government decides to make it legal.

Smoking marijuana is not an offence.  But possession and sale are
prohibited by the federal Narcotics Control Act, under which marijuana
is classified as a narcotic.

Mr. Wishart said Thursday any changes in the federal law would
probably depend on the findings of the current federal inquiry.  The
commission expects to submit an interim report around Christmas and a
final report within two years.

Ontario's provincial judges do not agree that marijuana is harmless.

Dr. Morton Shulman, New Democratic member of the Ontario legislature
for High Park and a former chief Toronto coroner, said Thursday Dr.
Cotnam's statement was "the first sensible thing I've heard him say in
the seven years I've known him."

Barbara Buck, director of Digger House living centre for youth here,
said Dr. Cotnam's remarks showed people in high places were coming to
recognize there is a "drug problem."

However, she described the over-all idea as "rather irrelevant to the
drug problem" because experience at Digger House showed the real
problem is speed -- amphetamines or pep pills.

Dr. Cotnam said his idea in recommending legal possession of marijuana
was to "control" its use, not promote it.

In his remarks to the coroners, he suggested measured use of marijuana
by 1,000 to 5,000 persons from all walks of life during a one-to-two
year period would show wether marijuana is harmful.

Dr. Cotnam said he was more concerned with abuse of barbituates and
tranquilizers than with marijuana smokers and added he was not
convinced marijuana usage led to use of harder drugs.

His office had been able to atribute 230 deaths in 1968 to misuse of
barbituates but not one, directly or indirectly, to marijuana.  Dr.
Cotnam said continued use of marijuana is inevitable and the only
deterrent should be overwhelming scientific evidence of harmful
effects, if any.


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