Pubdate: Wed, 15 Sep 2004
Source: Goldstream Gazette (CN BC)
Copyright: 2004 Goldstream Gazette
Contact:  http://www.goldstreamgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1291
Author: Ronald Johnson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

USE OF CHILDREN IRRESPONSIBLE

On the front page of the Aug. 11 News Gazette, there appears an article 
regarding a marijuana grow op bust ("headline here").

What concerns me is the growing use of the 'child card' being used by law 
enforcement and journalism generally.

Not to suggest that I agree with the illegal, large-scale dope growers 
becoming so prevalent on the Island and the mainland, but the blurring of 
the crime committed to play on public sympathies is abhorrent.

The use of childrens' welfare to effect changes in laws and freedoms has 
long been in use in the U.S.

I would hate for this same hysterical political correctness to run 
rampantly through your readers' minds, based on carefully selected sound 
bites used by the RCMP and meant to swing public opinion without the facts, 
as produced by professionals.

Are the officers on scene professional electricians? Do they know an amp 
from an ohm?

Would anyone suggest the children are better off dropped needlessly in 'the 
system' to pay for the crimes of their parents?

I hope not.

I suggest that the RCMP is underfunded and in many cases caught in a state 
of flux regarding the ever-changing state of our society, forced to ignore 
and enforce laws in a frustrating cycle and in this, they have my sympathy.

But the use of chldren as a third party, thrust to the forefront of a crime 
such as this is irresponsible, at best.

Ronald Johnson, Langford
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager