While forest fires rage in central British Columbia, the government of Canada under Justin Trudeau is blowing smoke from Ottawa with its proposed Cannabis Act.

I’ve received a short survey request from the Member of Parliament (MP) for my area who says he wants to know ” . . . (my) thoughts on some of the specifics regarding the legislation, . . ..” I’ve responded to the survey in the context of my fundamental views on such legislation.

The simplest and most moral action for the government to take is to de-criminalize the cultivation, production and consumption of cannabis, leaving this economic activity to the market where it properly belongs.

My position is that I am against all forms of prohibition, as I’ve explained in an article I wrote in 2010 entitled Feeling Alright.

Fundamentally, such legislation falls into the category of preventive law for which there can be no justification. These laws make all individuals subject to government coercion without specific evidence, only on the grounds that some have acted irresponsibly or criminally in some relationship to the prohibited activity, or the activity is not favored by some elite minority.

More importantly, preventive law is a complete rejection of the presumption of innocence of the individual in a justice system. In addition, it cynically regards all of us as elements of a class or as cells in an organic whole.

As to the specifics of the survey from the MP, they concern two things: ” . . . who can smoke marijuana and how much can they consume? . . .. (and) Whether it is legal or illegal, youth getting their hands on marijuana is a growing concern . . ..”

First, people should be left to kill themselves any way they choose, whether by the slow self-destruction of mind-altering drugs or the faster expedient of putting a bullet through the head.

Second, parental responsibility is the proper realm for addressing the concerns of the immature. Only when parents have objectively failed in this should the state intervene on behalf of the child.

The state fails when it enters areas outside its proper jurisdiction, which arises from its monopoly on the use of force. When it initiates force against its citizens, destruction is the result.