After 100 years of drug prohibition

It's amazing how little has changed when you look at the time and background of our current drug laws.Because hard drugs haven't changed in percentage of population in that 100 years and really are the same as they were before the tax act that began the prohibition.It's hard to see what all the fuss is about?There's also the fact that drugs were kept in the poor areas and amongst the blacks and hispanics until the sixties when all manner of social change split the continent in half.With more than 50% of the people either using or having used drugs it is puzzling that the other half of the population gets their way and the half that uses and to a small extent abuses drugs is persecuted to the point that it's considered alright to do all manner of despicable things to them.Now we once again have a conservative government that loves to tell us how to live and does not hesitate to use force to get it's way.Even though a majority of the public is and has been ready for decriminalization for almost 35 years,this bunch of born again zealots has introduced mandatory minimums even as the US is beginning to see how disastrous this kind of sentence is.The government has apologised for almost every racist action taken in the early 20th century.The one exception is the laws against drug use that were the result of racism and fear of other races.The government never mentions this and always alludes to some non existant cause that demanded that anti drug laws be passed.This is not true and the evidence is all over the web if you have the notion to look it up.Or you can continue to be prejudiced towards a majority of Canadians who just want to live and let live.Prohibition is the most expensive,least effective and most cruel way to not deal with the drug issue.It suits Harper and company just fine.They think that a lie becomes truth if it's repeated often and loudly enough.It's working for them so far because you let it.

Vancouver Police Chief Is lying

Jim Chiu wants people to believe that sending addicts to prison is going to magically transform the city into a bright new future.He is well aware that he is lying.Prison is not a new solution to the drug problem.In fact it is no solution to anything except to warehouse human beings.No-one is claiming that we should close down the prison system and find something better.There are people that are simply too dangerous to allow them to live freely among us.Chiu says he's talked to addicts that have told him that prison saved their lives.He wants us to believe that they meant that they were grateful for federal time.(2 years or more)I have been at this long enough to know exactly what he is referring to.We often say that if it wasn't for all the time we've done we'd probably be dead.This is not a declaration in favor of the federal prison system but a comment on the violence of the addict lifestyle.For Chiu to suggest anything else is dishonest and disingenuous.Prison is a twisted and often brutal place to be and it warps the mind.Sending petty criminals and that is who we're talking about,to prison will only make them more dangerous when they get out.Even Chiu won't say how long he wants the sentence for these "super chronic offenders"(addicts)to be.One only has to look to the south to see what happens when you implement such laws.Prisons fill up and over flow and costs go through the roof.Do we want to have private prisons and long sentences for people who have a disease and steal to feed it?If there was anything new here it might be worth a try,even though it offends the soul.This is something that was done in the past with the result that it was found to be cruel and unusual punishment.I think the police chief knows this.If he doesn't he should look for another job.The Province also tried to have addiction declared a crime and to throw every one in prison for mandatory treatment.When confronted with the facts about the success rates for treatment of hard core addicts they were forced to withdraw the bill.This is a terribly difficult problem and there has,to this date,been no satisfactory solution.That is no reason to go back to imprisoning people for a sickness for long periods of time.It stops them from stealing for the duration of their sentence but it costs a lot of money and makes better criminals out of them.There is also the fact that people who do petty crimes to support their drug habits will turn to more serious crimes if the time they face is the same for both.The chief won't tell you that either and he's well aware of that as well.