Glover wins our Turkey of the Week award for ill-reasoned hyperbole.
Speaking at the recent launch of a new federal government anti-drug campaign in Ottawa, Glover—a former cop—accused Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff of encouraging little kids to smoke marijuana.
“It is very disturbing as a parent, and as a police officer for almost 19 years, to hear the opposition, in fact the Liberal leader, say to our children that it is okay to take marijuana in small doses,” stated Glover, according to the Vancouver Sun.
When pressed for details, Glover said that Ignatieff’s support for decriminalizing pot possession (for adults) was tantamount to telling children it was fine to toke up.
If that’s the case, then former Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Joe Clark is also guilty of pushing pot on kids, because he supports decrim too.
“I believe the least controversial approach is decriminalization because it’s unjust to see someone, because of one decision one night in their youth, carry the stigma—to be barred from studying medicine, law or other fields where a criminal record could present an obstacle,” the former PM was quoted as saying in the May 23, 2001 National Post.
Under Clark, the Progressive Conservatives supported softening Canadian pot laws, as evidenced by the headline, “Clark renews pot law promise” in the August 26, 1979 Toronto Star.
“The Conservatives have already said they favour removing the possession of marijuana from the Criminal Code,” reads the article.
Clark is hardly alone: other pro-decrim conservatives include Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (who signed a bill reduced pot possession to a ticketable offence earlier this fall), Republican Congressman Ron Paul (who has introduced federal decrim legislation), the Fraser Institute and The Globe and Mail (which described pot decrim as “the wisest course” in a June 2, 2001 editorial).
In other words, Michael Ignatieff, you’re in good company.
