Pubdate: Wed, 04 Jan 2006
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 Vancouver Courier
Contact:  http://www.vancourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474
Author: Barry Link
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?196 (Emery, Marc)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Safe Injecting Rooms)

READERS VOTING IN WEB POLLS CONFLICTED ABOUT DRUG POLICY

The faithful readers who participate in the Courier's weekly 
unscientific online web poll developed a lot more angst last year.

In 2004, poll respondents were a curious bunch. Concerned about 
police misconduct but hopeful about the economy, they claimed to see 
UFOs, stayed away from the beach, and took their dogs shopping. In 
2005, judging by the answers provided to the more than 50 online 
questions we asked readers last year, poll participants were a lot 
more conflicted. They were socially tolerant, but increasingly 
impatient with city drug policy. They wanted coyotes and trees 
protected, but demanded foreign criminals be sent packing. They were 
keen on politics, but said only bona fide Vancouverites should run 
for mayor. Few were also prepared for a major natural disaster, but 
they weren't worried about it, since they'd rather spend their time 
learning about sex.

Our online poll participants started 2005 with great hope, with two 
thirds saying they were optimistic about the coming year. Optimism 
begat social tolerance and compassion. More than half of respondents 
reported no donor fatigue, even after multiple appeals for charitable 
aid thanks to successive disasters last year. A solid 60 per cent 
backed more housing for the homeless.

Eighty-one per cent said films deemed to be racist should be 
permitted for public screening. Two-thirds believed Vancouver should 
create more restorative justice programs. A resounding 76 per cent 
didn't want marijuana nut Marc Emery extradited to the U.S.

Just over half thought Vancouver needs a second supervised drug 
injection site. But in a sign that poll participants have reached 
their limit with Vancouver's permissive drug policy, two-thirds 
rejected the notion that staff at the Insite injection site be 
allowed to help drug users inject drugs. And complaints about police 
misconduct were so 2004, with fewer than half of respondents saying 
allegations against the cops in the Downtown Eastside should be 
investigated further.

But don't use politics to justify illegal activity. Two-thirds of 
poll respondents believed the Squamish Five bombers from the 1980s 
are the equivalent of today's terrorists. And refugees in Canada 
ought not to do the crime if they can't do the time back home. A 
whopping 90 per cent of our poll users would deport your butt out of 
the country.

Our respondents remain as green as ever. Nearly three-quarters want 
more of Hastings Park to be regreened. Half want the Stanley Park 
petting zoo turned into an ecological interpretive centre. Two-thirds 
seek an alternative to the car for their commute. Nearly 90 per cent 
said the city should provide extra recycling boxes on public streets 
for all the new freebie newspapers. Two-thirds wanted a limit to tall 
buildings downtown. Three-quarters opposed a cull of the city's 
coyote population.

Illegal tree cutters also should beware: 87 per cent wanted the city 
to toughen its tree removal bylaw.

Poll respondents are health nuts, with 68 per cent supporting a ban 
on smoking outdoors. Seventy-one per cent want more public toilets 
downtown, and 79 per cent advocate more PE in public schools. Keeping 
students busy with PE might be a good idea to take their minds off 
certain things, since three-quarters of poll repondents also wanted 
schools to provide more sex education for teens. But respondents are 
no slouch in education on the art of love, with 60 per cent reporting 
they would attend a conference on sex. We don't know what kind of 
conference the other 40 per cent would choose.

Poll participants are keen on politics, with 86 per cent saying they 
intended to vote in last year's provincial election. But two-thirds 
said they didn't understand the BC-STV proposal for electoral reform. 
The great majority also wanted legal limits on campaign spending in 
civic elections. And outsiders need not apply in civic politics, with 
78 per cent saying only those who live in Vancouver should be allowed 
to run for mayor.

Yet they have no shame. Three-quarters of our respondents would 
happily accept a position in the Senate if it was offered to them.

Finally, our poll respondents will be caught flat-footed by a major 
disaster, as fewer than one in five said their household was prepared 
for an emergency. Only 40 per cent are worried about an avian flu 
pandemic, and a piddly 11 per cent fear a comet or asteroid will wipe 
out life on earth.

I hope they're right. We have a new year of online polls for readers 
to answer in 2006.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom