Europe Goes To Pot

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European liberality is unlikely to make a dent in Washington, where President Bush has said drug legalization "would be a social catastrophe." Despite rising numbers of marijuana arrests, the U.S. remains wedded to strict prohibition. But Washington will have to watch out for hemp-scented clouds blowing from north of the border. The Canadian Bar Association, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police all conditionally support decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of pot. So does Joe Clark, a former Prime Minister who is leader of the opposition Conservatives.

It's already a lucrative export: British Columbia's underground marijuana industry employs an estimated 150,000 people and earns some $4 billion a year, sending as much as 95% of the output to the U.S. A recent pot poll shows that 47% of Canadian voters back its legalization. One entrepreneur estimates that will happen in two years; he is already drawing up plans for a string of cafes along the 3,987-mile U.S. border, proffering high-quality weed to go, in vacuum-sealed bags.

Washington will squawk as loudly as it can if Ottawa comes anywhere close to legalizing the pot trade. But as Europe is learning, it may be easier to knock down rogue missiles than to beat back a consensus among allies and neighbors who think it is smarter to live with cannabis than to fight it.