Pot smoking Tory

John Tory has admitted that a 30-year-old article of his, appearing in Osgoode's Obiter Dicta student newspaper, wherein he wrote about smoking pot (even while driving) and urging more lenient pot laws for traffickers, is a true account. That is what he believed, and that is what he did. He tells us now that he hasn't smoked pot since.

"That was then and this is now," he said. "I'm 30 years older, hopefully a lot wiser. I think these are experiences that kids often have that help them to learn lessons and shape their attitudes when they get older."

Right. Great. Those are great lessons to learn, provided you don't get caught. If John Tory really thinks these are worthwhile lessons, lessons that young people should learn, like he did, then he should support police taking a hands-off attitude towards young adults' pot-smoking behaviour.

Why should Tory get to learn these lessons, while others learn the lesson that getting charged with pot possession could hurt their job prospects?

Just about everybody smokes, or has smoked, pot. Very many people continue to smoke pot throughout their lives. Good for them (I've tried it, but it didn't stick. I haven't smoked pot since New Year's Eve about 12 to 14 years ago in Florida).

Let them smoke pot.

Here's more from the article:

Tory went on to reminisce about the time he and a friend were entering a Lake Simcoe marina with a half pound of marijuana aboard and noticed they were being followed by another boat with a powerful searchlight.

[Did you get that? Half a pound of marijuana!]

"I managed to persuade my accomplice not to ditch the stuff so he stuffed it down his pants and we made it to the dock without incident," Tory wrote.

The Conservative leader said he believes many people his age have similar tales to tell.

[They sure do. Some have other tales to tell. Like being caught with half a pound of marijuana, getting charged, and being fired from work.]

"I characterize (the article) as honest observations of somebody 30 years ago," Tory said. "And at the same time I listened to Jimi Hendrix and I had long hair that was almost down to my shoulders, which my father was constantly telling me to get cut because I looked like a hippie."

All three provincial leaders -- including Premier Dalton McGuinty and NDP Leader Howard Hampton -- have admitted under previous questioning by reporters to experimenting with pot or hashish as young men.

So did Chretien. Good for all of them. Now if only they would have the courage to make pot legal.