Pubdate: Sat, 05 Sep 2009
Source: London Free Press (CN ON)
Copyright: 2009 The London Free Press
Contact: http://www.lfpress.com/cgi-bin/comments.cgi?c=letters_editor
Website: http://www.lfpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/243
Author: Robby Smink

DRUG WAR LOST 60 YEARS AGO

With big headlines Cops raze outdoor pot grow ops (Sept. 2), The
London Free Press typically endorses the status quo in North America's
stupid and counterproductive "war on drugs."

This war was already lost over 60 years ago, when huge profits were
ensured for anyone dealing in what was deemed to be illegal.

The very laws that were enacted to protect us from crime and violence
have backfired and are guaranteeing the exact opposite. The ironic
thing is that the criminals could not operate without these laws.
Another often overlooked fact is that drug users will get their drugs
whether they are illegal or not.

Quoting a low-level RCMP corporal that "police officers believe that
marijuana use is the gateway to the consumption of harder drugs"
doesn't make it so. It is simply an opinion that is totally
contradictory to all the known facts.

Such beliefs however, do help guarantee the police their jobs and the
growth of the police state.

Meanwhile, on Aug. 26 came the news that Argentina was not the only
but the latest Latin American country to decriminalize small-scale use
of drugs ranging from marijuana to crack cocaine. These Second World
countries are leading the way to more rational drug-use policies,
which view drug usage as a health concern, not a criminal issue.

This boldness by the Latinos was barely mentioned and was buried at
the bottom of a page in the second section. Now, that news should have
been a headline.

Robby Smink

St. Marys
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr