Canadians need to stop framing the marijuana issue in the timeless tradition of good vs. bad. We have to get past the medical argument, the gateway argument, the economic argument, the addiction argument, the failure of the war on drugs argument and many others. It’s not a question of right or wrong.

The legal status of marijuana, like anything else that is relatively harmless, should be based on one simple principle: that a responsible adult has the right to be in charge of his or her own affairs.

Like most everything we enjoy in life (alcohol, red meat and running a marathon are examples that come to mind right now) the reality of marijuana is that it’s a double-edged sword. Marijuana is both good and bad. The current policy, on the other hand, is all bad, which is why it’s not the plant that needs to be changed.

Canada, being a modern democracy with an educated population of mostly responsible, hard-working adults, should stop treating its citizens as though we need to be protected from ourselves. When it comes to drugs, we have historically based policy on what people of poor judgment do with them, leaving those of us competent to manage our daily affairs at a loss and at risk of arrest. Today most Canadians think this is a backward approach.

The first time I smoked marijuana was a revelation, not because it was so much fun but because it wasn’t. Certainly it was an amusing experience but it was a far cry from what we’d been taught to avoid in school. I experienced no euphoria, no grand distortion of reality and no withdrawal. What I did was laugh a lot. Then I scoured the kitchen for something to eat.

Today I hardly touch the stuff. Unless I’m home alone bored on a Friday night with the kids and wife away and things tidied up nicely at work, it doesn’t seem like much fun at all. But if it did, I would probably need a good movie to watch and a bottle of wine to go with it (yes, I might just drink the whole bottle).

Short of that particular scenario and possibly a couple of others, marijuana is not something I’m interested in. It’s not something I crave and it’s certainly not something I feel the police need to protect me from. I know a few police officers who feel the same way.

So let’s forget that it’s easier for kids to get marijuana under the current arrangement. Let’s forget about the money we could tax out of a legitimate industry. Let’s forget about the decent people who would no longer end up saddled with a criminal record. Let’s forget that we would no longer be wasting judicial resources to the tune of untold millions per year. Let’s forget that it’s probably less harmful than that bottle of wine I might just polish off all by myself.

And let’s finally remember that we are all responsible for our own affairs and most of us don’t want it any other way.

What we should be talking about is whether or not Canadian adults are able to make adult decisions without a bunch of politicians telling us to look both ways before crossing the street. If our neighbours to the south can see the light it is time Canada started talking as well.

Legalizing marijuana is not about good vs. bad or right vs. wrong. It’s about our ability to make those decisions for ourselves.

I feel quite confident I’m able to do that these days, even when I’m high.

Michael Ashby is director of the National Pardon Centre.