During sightseeing expeditions in Canada, my friends and I decided to visit a Vancouver cafe, an establishment whose logo has a giant pot leaf in the middle of it. Like a few other Vancouver locations, this cafe has a policy of "tolerating" marijuana smoking. This, coupled with Vancouver's notarized statement that local police should not waste their time prosecuting small amounts of marijuana, creates a certain atmosphere within the cafe. In brief, this cafe is like none other; standing in the cafe doorway alone was enough to become pleasantly buzzed.

The cafe was warm, dark and ultimately an experience in comfort. Patrons chatted, sipped coffee and smiled freely as they passed joints and glass pipes around the tables. The music was loud, but the atmosphere was laid back. No one got on top of the counters and did body shots; no one puked all over the floor. The scary, exciting depravity of the bars from our previous night of vacation had been replaced with low-key enjoyment in a slightly unusual situation.

Vancouver police stay true to their unspoken agreement not to bother marijuana users within the cafe. The best part of this agreement is that it is perfectly possible for this cafe to run without police intervention. Imagine a similar situation wherein cops promised to avoid prosecuting minors at a bar. It would be impossible to do so, because even those legal users at a bar create situations (drunken fights, sexual harassment) wherein police intervention is necessary. Not so at a pot cafe. The mood is friendly and relaxed rather than uproarious and violent. The relations between genders are likewise remarkably different when comparing this cafe to any other place where substances and social interaction are the main purpose of the establishment. At bars the women in our group were continuously privy to the sexual advances of men. Sometimes these advances were appreciated and reciprocated; more often, they were not. We found ourselves leaving dance floors and clubs simply to escape the man who would not leave us alone, refused to let go during a song or trailed one of us around demanding to buy us a drink. These kinds of advances were relentless and only created uncomfortable situations and ruined nights of merriment. At this cafe, however, there was no such sexual tension. When a girlfriend and I approached two men and introduced ourselves, they shook our hands immediately and engaged in cordial conversation. The four of us discussed our homes, our schools, our lives, without once turning the conversation sexual. Whereas the dynamics of alcohol caused men to befriend women only to rub against them, the dynamics of marijuana created a social situation that truly was social rather than sexual. The smoke clouding up the cafe was a breath of fresh air. This cafe was the equivalent of an upscale lounge. Yes, most customers were using mind-altering substances. But like a 40-something executive entertaining a gin and tonic with lunch, the cafe smokers were committing a basically innocuous act.

After this cafe, it is mind-boggling that the U.S. government can sleep at night having criminalized marijuana to the nth degree. How alcohol is legal and marijuana illegal is question enough, to say nothing of the fact that other drugs such as cocaine are regulated even less than marijuana. Perhaps it is the image of the businessman who sips liquor versus the image of the hippie who pokes smot and doesn’t ever get a job. The government seems to defer to that image every time a marijuana debate emerges, and apparently our society has not grown past its goal to protect capitalism based on mental pictures regarding which drug hurts society the most.

I don't envy the government’s responsibility to create law. It is often hard to know what will work and what will not, so creating regulations without an empirical example of utopia is certainly a difficult task. Vancouver, B.C., took a chance on de-regulating marijuana, and it worked. Police have more time and money to prosecute rapists and murderers, and young people looking for a fun night out (topped off with a little bit of mind alteration) can choose a cafe over a bar. If it worked there, it can work here.

How about it Oregon? I’d say we’re ready for a revolutionary stand on marijuana, but the truth is this: Because we already know de-regulation worked in Canada, de-regulation of marijuana in the United States would not be revolutionary at all. It would just be the implementation of a policy that has already proven itself to be a damn good idea.

Source: Oregon Daily Emerald, the independent campus newspaper at the University of Oregon www.dailyemerald.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/07/12/42d400083fae5#feedback