Pubdate: Tue, 04 Jun 2002 Source: Parksville Qualicum Beach News (CN BC) Copyright: 2002 Parksville Qualicum Beach News Contact: http://www.pqbnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1361 Author: Alan Randell PEOPLE CAN PUT WHATEVER THEY WANT INTO THEIR BODIES Re Man Charged In 1999 Grow-Op Bust In Court, May 28 No government has the right to punish anyone for ingesting anything, however harmful. There is no more reason to persecute drug users and distributors today than there was in the past to hang witches, lynch blacks or gas Jews. If you want to know how it came to be that most Germans acquiesced to Hitler's policies towards the Jews, you only have to realize that the flood of "news" stories like this has made us think that rousting innocent people off to jail is normal. And of course by suppressing the victims' stories, you make it easier for us to ignore their plight. We shrug and turn the page. Would it have killed you to send a reporter out to talk to this person and his family and friends? The media: Where would the approaching police state be without you? Alan Randell Victoria - --- MAP posted-by: Beth