Thank you, Chair.
I find it fascinating that the conversation is moving in this direction. It seems that within the Liberal Party, as well as the NDP, there's this opinion that there's amazing capacity for the government and the economy to have this incredible opportunity of wealth.
The problem is that we don't read our history books. China is probably the greatest civilization that's ever existed on this planet, if one looks at their accomplishments. However, if you read what took place, it began in the 1700s with opium. Opium was introduced for the same reason. Governments became involved. The British saw a lucrative trade there. There was one prime minister who condemned the British government for becoming part of this whole act. In essence, it destroyed a whole society.
If you read your history books, you'll find that people began to lose their livelihoods. The family unit was completely destroyed. Crime and lawlessness increased.
This isn't some exercise in trying to scare people. The reality of the situation is that we have learned lessons in the past, and it's not for no reason that governments have put together laws that have restricted drugs.
I thought it would be interesting. I looked on the Internet. I wanted to see what the drug culture, those who.... I have to confess that maybe I'm the wrong person to talk about this, because I've never smoked the stuff. I wanted to find out what people who indulged in smoking marijuana said about marijuana, as opposed to opium. Opium is an interesting drug. Almost without exception, the responses were that opium is a whole lot better. I'm paraphrasing. They pontificate. They go into reasons why and such.
The point is that this is a stepping-stone drug. The people who smoke marijuana aren't going to be content just to.... I'm not painting everybody with the same brush, but I can assure you that we will see the same thing happening in our society. Why, for the life of me, would we...?
You know, even without proper dialogue, even without thinking this through, this is a dangerous precedent. I can't reinforce this enough. It took the brutality of Mao Zedong to stamp out drug usage in China. There were probably 10 million people who were addicted to opium.
Now people will say we're dated, that we're talking about marijuana. There's a difference.
Mr. Davies, you referred to alcohol. It's not the same thing. Yes, it's a drug, to a degree I suppose, one would argue. You drink alcohol. You might like beer; you might be hooked on vodka. It's alcohol. Whereas with drugs, you open up a whole world of possibilities. If we think we're going to become a prosperous nation, that there's opportunity economically with the pursuit of marijuana in our society, we are so sadly mistaken. We need to talk about this.
I am convinced that there are people—and not just old fuddy-duddies like me—and there are people in the Liberal Party too, who have some reservations. I implore you to start talking to your leadership, to stop this crazy notion that this is a good idea.
I was going to leave this for closing remarks, but you opened it up. The fact that we somehow imagine this whole marijuana business is going to be advantageous and we're going to protect youth—we're going to keep a lid on this thing—is foolhardy at best.
I appreciate your time, and I ask my Liberal colleagues to look at this, really look at this, because this is a disaster waiting to happen.