Pubdate: Tue, 2 Jun 2009 Source: Abbotsford News (CN BC) Copyright: 2009 Abbotsford News Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/BkAJKrUD Website: http://www.abbynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1155 Author: Karen Durant DRUG WAR KILLING YOUTH Drug abuse is a medical condition and should not be considered a criminal offence. I am so pleased to see more people having the courage to speak out against the drug wars that are killing our youth. Employing more police and building more jails just creates a community of criminals. Portugal decriminalized drugs in 2001, crime has dropped, drug abuse has dropped. The issue has been studied to death and history proves prohibition does not work. The regulation and tax of drugs, education and harm reduction will lower crime and drug abuse. Parents need to know what their children are doing, play the video games they are playing - what are they teaching your child? Communities need to know what our children are doing. What youth activities do they have? I see a few churches have youth centers, but what does our community have to offer our future? The war on drugs has killed more youth than the drugs have. A generation is dying. Karen Durant - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake