Pubdate: Thu, 05 Mar 2009
Source: News Review, The  (CN SN)
Copyright: 2009 Yorkton News Review
Contact:  http://www.yorktonnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4047
Author: Kaleb Dunlop
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

BILL C-15 WILL INCREASE PROFITS FOR ORGANIZED CRIME

Well it has been all over the news lately, gang related murders seem
to be skyrocketing in British Columbia, and what have the
Conservatives done? They have come out with a multi-million dollar
anti-gang Bill (Bill C-14) which focuses on mandatory minimum sentences.

These mandatory minimum sentences will not stop these crimes from
happening for at least two reasons.

If a person is going to commit murder, they do not stop to think about
the consequences, and if that person is in a gang, they are likely
aware that a large number of gang related murders go unsolved.

One of organized crime's main income sources is illegal drugs, and by
far the most common illegal drug used today is cannabis.

The Conservatives also have a new drug bill (Bill C-15), that if
passed, will require a minimum prison sentence of six months for
growing one cannabis plant, discouraging small scale growers.

Large scale growers (which are often gang related) will fill in that
void ensuring an increase in organized crimes profits. It is simple
supply and demand.

The World Health Organization (WHO) did a report on cannabis that
concluded cannabis is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco.

In 2003 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that cannabis use is not
normally harmful to a healthy adult even if used over a long period of
time, and that it is not (physically) addictive.

The Supreme Court also agreed that the prohibition of cannabis causes
more harm to society than the plant itself, by causing disrespect for
the law, causing a lack of open communication between young people and
their parents, and that because it is sold on the black market by drug
dealers people are often exposed to dangerous drugs like meth and cocaine.

In 2002 the Special Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs concluded that
the prohibition of cannabis is based on myths and propaganda instead
of logic and reason. The Senate Committee also found the harms of
using cannabis are insignificant, and most of the harms of cannabis
are caused by prohibition itself.

According to BC Business Magazine the cannabis industry is the second
largest industry in BC and worth over $7 Billion dollars.

There is no way to know just how much of that money is going into
organized crime.

When study after study concludes that cannabis is less harmful than
alcohol, why do we still keep this plant illegal when we know doing so
creates millions (probably billions) of dollars for organized crime?

Why do we spend billions of dollars keeping it illegal when we could
be making billions in tax dollars instead?

I think we need to learn a lesson from the failure of alcohol
prohibition. Prohibition of alcohol created a massive black market
that funded organized crime, the largest of them being the Chicago
Outfit, ran by the famous Al Capone. Alcohol related murders did not
stop when Al Capone was locked in Alcatraz. However, when alcohol
prohibition was repealed, organized crime lost its main income source,
and gang related murders dropped significantly.

I believe if we legalized and regulated cannabis similar to the way we
regulate alcohol we would be doing so much good for our society.

Not only would we be taking a big cut out of organized crime, the
taxes from cannabis could be used to help balance the budget.

Our police force, courts, and prisons could spend more resources
focusing on serious crimes, instead of being clogged up with
nonviolent people who did nothing more than dare to grow a plant.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin