Pubdate: Thu, 4 Sep 2008
Source: Mid-North Monitor (CN ON)
Copyright: 2008 Osprey Media
Contact: http://www.midnorthmonitor.com/feedback1/LetterToEditor.aspx
Website: http://www.midnorthmonitor.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2442
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n822/a06.html?1192
Author: Preston Noonan

DRUG CHARGES UP 1500%

Hello, I just finished reading your article on drug charges in
Espanola and felt compelled to write to you.

As a taxpayer of this town it galls me to read articles like
this.

First some facts. According to 2006 figures we employ 1 Police chief,
2 sergeants, 8 constables, 4 full time communications people and 4
part time communications and clerical people for a total of 19
employees to the tune of $1.5 million/year. This works out to
$280.60/household. This is also 6 more personnel than we had in 1988.

In your article you state that due to the police "focusing" on drugs
they were able to bring a total of 63 drug "POSSESSION" charges
against citizens in town in 2007. This works out to 3.3 charges per
employee in the police services over a year. WOW! Thanks for keeping
me safe.

I would be curious to know how many of these are for marijuana
possession and how many are for the REALLY dangerous drugs like
cocaine,ecstasy, crystal meth, oxycontin(which is legal by the way,
but known as "hippie heroin").

On page 3 of the Monitor this week in your court reports there is an
article about 1 citizen that was charged, not with simple possession
but a more severe charge of trafficking and after 195 days and I
assume several court appearances was given 1 year probation and a $250
fine.

You state in your article also that it takes on average 236 days to
complete the court cycle. We have to pay the court employees, the
arresting officers who get overtime to appear in court, the lawyers on
both sides, etc. to bring people like this citizen to "justice" all
for a $250 fine. I would like to know the total cost involved in this.
I would bet it is several thousand dollars.

I believe our police could be utilized better. How about the number of
break and enters that have been solved in the same time period? There
is no mention of this because I believe the arrest rate would be much
lower.

In an Angus Reid poll published in May of this year 53% of Canadians
believe that marijuana should be legalized, this number has been
consistent over the last several years. In 2002 a Senate Special
Committee on Illegal Drug Use came to an UNANIMOUS recommendation that
marijuana should be legalised and regulated in the same way that
alcohol is. "We know our proposals are provocative, that they will
meet with resistance. However, we are also convinced that Canadian
society has the maturity and openness to welcome an informed debate."
This is a direct quote from said committee in 2002.

Our government did not act on this recommendation due to pressure
brought by the American government. How much time, effort and money is
wasted every year to bring mostly law abiding citizens to "justice"
for wanting to smoke a joint?

Did you know that there is no safer drug in the world than marijuana?
There has never been 1 death EVER attributed to marijuana use. Not
even Aspirin can claim this.

There has been much research into the medical benefits of marijuana
for such issues as AIDS wasting syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis,
epilepsy, glaucoma, stress, chronic pain relief, the list goes on and
on.

Maclean's magazine published an article a few weeks ago about the BC
marijuana trade. In the article it stated that over $6 Billion dollars
are generated for their economy there and that some small towns are
almost totally dependant on this market to survive. This is more money
than the forestry industry there brings in. How much tax money is our
government losing out on to keep this "dangerous" drug illegal.

I could go on for a long time on this subject but I won't. I believe
that our Media is to blame for a lot of the histeria that surrounds
Marijuana use. The media does not do the Canadian public any justice
in continuing to try to instill fear over the dangers marijuana.

Let's get our Officers working on real crime and forget about chasing
after a few pot smokers.

Preston Noonan

OUR RESPONSE

The facts stated in this letter have not been substantiated by any
independent source. The information was gleaned from the writer's own
sources. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake